Gundam Moon 12 fomerly known as Ranma Moon
by Shinigami-chan
Summary: Poor Ranma goes to live with his cousin Serena after an accident. Gundam boys are introduced.
1. Default Chapter

Ranma ½: Changes  
  
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Chapter 1  
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Ranma Saotome was relaxing on the roof on the Tendo dojo. He never had a chance just to relax because of the various fiancées and rivals that were always after him. It was a sunny day in the middle of June, school had just let out for summer and Ranma was looking forward to being able to relax and not worry about homework or being late to school for the rest of the summer.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a huge crash from the front of the house. 'That sounded like it came from the front yard.' he thought to himself as he jumped down from the roof and walked towards the front yard. He turned the corner just in time to see Shampoo and Ukyo destroy the rest of the gate as the wrestled with each other. He stood there for a second staring at them and while he was distracted, Kodachi appeared next to him and wrapped herself around him.  
  
"Ranma darling, you simply must come with me on a date. Ha ha ha ha!" she laughed maniacally.  
  
"Get off of me!" he yelled as he struggled to pull her off of him. His shout attracted the attention of Shampoo, Ukyo, and Akane who was just coming in through the remains of the gate.  
  
"Get off Ranma!" Ukyo and Shampoo shouted together while Akane just stood, frozen, staring at the quartet.  
  
The three girls in the yard started fighting while Akane stared at them, anger slowly beginning to burn away the shock at the sight of the three girls destroying her home. Again.  
  
Suddenly her mallet materialized in her hand and she started swinging at the whole group in front of her. Shampoo was knocked into the wall while Ukyo was knocked in to the ground. Kodachi wound up lodged in the upper branches of the tree where she hung by the back of her tight leotard. Ranma, who had been turning blue from the choke hold on his neck, courtesy of Kodachi's ribbon, started to thank her but was cut of by the mallet that was planted in his face. Ranma was thrown backwards into the wall next to Shampoo, hitting it with a sickening crack.  
Akane was slightly worried about Ranma as he silently slipped down but quickly pushed it aside, to angry at him for inviting those girls over.  
  
Turning she stomped into the house and called Kodachi's house and had a servant come and pluck her out of the tree's top and haul her home. Next she called Cologne at the Cat Cafe and had her come pick Shampoo up. Sighing she then hauled Ukyo back to her restaurant.  
  
After depositing the chef, she started back to the dojo thinking, 'I wish that Ranma would pay some attention to me like he does to the other girls, that pervert. He probably pays more attention to them because I'm such a tomboy. Ohhh, he makes me so mad!'  
  
By this time she had reached the remains of the gate to the wall that surrounded her home. Inside she found Dr. Tofu, Kasumi, Nabiki, both of their fathers and Ryoga gathered around where Ranma lay against the wall.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked as they turned towards her.  
  
"Akane! It's so horrible. Some one broke in and attacked Ranma. Dr. Tofu thinks he has a concussion, a broken arm, four cracked, possibly broken ribs, and possibly some spinal damage." Kasumi exclaimed and then misjudged the shocked expressions on her sisters face. "Oh don't worry about anything. When he wakes up, I'm sure that he will be able to tell us who did this to him and then Ryoga, father, and Mr. Saotome are going to track him down and make him pay for what he did."  
  
"Oh, ok." Akane said in a small voice and then hurried inside to her room.  
  
Nabiki watched her go a suspicious look on her face.  
  
  
  
Akane watched from her window as an ambulance came and carried Ranma away, leaving behind only the shattered remains of the gate, two holes in the wall, a couple of broken branches laying on the ground and a hole in the ground where Ukyo had been malleted into it.   
  
'I can't believe that I hurt Ranma.' she thought. 'He is always so strong and confident. He's always saying that I can't do anything right and I guess that he is right a little bit. But that still gives him no right to make fun of me like he does. He deserved what he got.' though she thought this firmly a little voice in the back of her mind told her that she was wrong. She ignored the voice and headed back downstairs.  
  
"Akane, we're going to go to the hospital for awhile. Would you like to come with us?" Kasumi asked as she met her at the door to the kitchen.  
"Sure." Akane said softly.  
  
  
  
Ranma was aware of nothing but pain that shot down his spine as he woke up. Opening his eyes, he saw a blurry outline of someone leaning over him. He blinked to try and clear his eyesight but the person stayed fuzzy.  
  
"Ranma? Can you here me?" the figure said softly.  
  
"Who you?" Ranma croaked out in a voice that sounded like gravel.  
  
"Don't you recognize me? It's me, Dr. Tofu." the figure said.  
  
"Can't really see." Ranma said slowly. Tofu nodded in understanding then disappeared from Ranma's field of vision. He could dimly hear the doctor saying something about spinal injuries affect nerves and how sometimes they were temporary.  
  
"What's going on? Where am I?"  
  
There was silence for a moment before Tofu started to explain. "You are in the hospital right now. You were attacked at the dojo and sustained some very bad injuries. You have 4 broken ribs, a broken arm, a minor concussion and a spinal injury that could affect the way you live for the rest of your life."  
  
"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.  
  
There was a long pause before Dr. Tofu answered and when he did it was very hesitant. "Your eye sight is part of it and your may be paralyzed. They need to run more tests before they can be sure but you may not be able to walk again."  
  
Ranma just stared at the blurry figure for a minute before he turned his face away.  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"Can I just be alone for a little while?" Ranma asked softly and a moment later he heard the doctor's footsteps heading towards the door. Once he was sure that he was a lone, Ranma let the tears he had been holding back slid down his face. He tried to sit up but another sharp pain shot down his back causing him to gasp in pain. He slumped back down and waited for it to fade. 'This can't be happening to Me.' he thought as he brushed the tears that were running down his cheeks away. 'This is all just a bad dream. I'm going to wake up any time now and be perfectly fine.' between one thought and the next, Ranma slipped back into sleep.  
  
  
  
  
Akane had snuck in the room when Dr. Tofu had left and sat down in the chair facing the bed. Watching Ranma try to sit up and fail, then start to silently cry tore at her heart. She felt immensely guilty at what had happened though she still insisted to her self that it was still all Ranma's fault.   
  
When she saw him fall asleep again, she quietly stood up and approached the bed and looked at his still face. He was pale and was sweating heavily and she could tell that he was in intense pain from the tears that still leaked from beneath closed lids.  
  
Turning, she quickly left the room. The waiting room was empty so she sat down on one of the plastic chairs that lined the wall and buried her head in her hands.   
  
That was how the others found her twenty minutes later after coming back from talking to the doctor who would help Dr. Tofu, a spinal specialist named Dr. Masaki.  
  
"Akane? Where have you been? I was worried about you." Kasumi said as she sat down next to her youngest sister.  
  
"I was walking around for a while." Akane said softly.  
  
Seeing that her sister was very upset, Kasumi gave her a motherly hug and whispered some reassurances in her ear. They watched as the two doctors went into Ranma's room and then wheeled his bed out and down the hall. Their father and Ranma's stood next to the two girls as the bed rolled past them. Ranma was huddled on the bed, awake and obviously in pain, visible in the lines on his forehead and around his mouth that were out of place on his young face. His eyes were open and staring, unfocused and glazed.  
  
Genma, Ranma's father, stopped the bed for a moment and asked quietly, "Who attacked you?"  
  
Ranma paused for a moment then said firmly, "No."  
  
Hearing this, Akane burst into tears. While Kasumi and Soun, their father, tried to comfort her, Tofu and Masaki wheeled Ranma on down the hall to the x-ray room to get some pictures of his spine.  
  
"I do hope that he will be all right." Kasumi said as her sister continued to cry on her shoulder.  
  
"I'm sure he will." Genma said in a firm voice but the look in his eyes showed that he wasn't as positive as he sounded.  
  
  
  
  
Ranma sighed. It had been a year since he had been injured and months since he had seen anyone besides the doctors and Kasumi, who came by every once in a while to check up on him. His father had disappeared shortly after he had been injured and when his mother found out that he was cursed, had disowned him. She had felt that since he had lost most of the feelings and movement from his legs down, it would be kinder to disown him then have him kill him self.  
  
**************  
Flashback  
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"Ranma, you have a visitor." Sakura, his nurse, said as she entered his room with a pitcher of water.  
  
"Who is it?" he asked listlessly. He had been like that since he found out that he would never walk without aids again.  
  
"A nice older woman who says she is you mother." the nurse said with a smile on her face. Behind her, the woman in question entered carrying a silk wrapped bundle and a piece of paper that looked like it was 13 years old.  
  
"Will you please excuse us?" she asked the nurse who nodded in understanding.  
  
As soon as she was gone, Nodoka sat down in the chair next to the bed.  
"Ranma, do you know about the deal that your father and I made right before you left on the training journey?" she asked quietly, a hard look in her eyes.  
  
"No. What deal?" he asked confused. In response to his question, she handed him the paper she had noticed earlier.  
  
"This is the contract that we made. It was that he had to turn you into a man above men or both of you would commit seppuku. I recently received a letter from your father yesterday. He told me about what happened to you and also the fact that you turn into a girl. That violates our agreement about you becoming a man above men. But since I consider my self a woman with a sense of justice, I will not make you commit seppuku. Instead, you are no longer my son. I will pay for your hospital bills as my last act of kindness to my son." this said, she stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Ranma to stare in horror at her back still clutching the paper in his fist.  
  
A tear slipped down his cheek as the nurse hurried back in. "Ranma? Are you ok?" she as asked worriedly.  
  
Silently he handed her the paper and whispered "She said I was no longer her son but she would let me live even thought the contract was broken. I didn't even know about the deal between them."  
  
Seeing that he was so shaken up by the visit, she wrapped him in a hug and let him cry on her shoulder.  
  
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End flashback  
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Ranma sighed as he remembered this. After she had left, the Tendos had come and told him that they were going to dissolve the engagement because he could no longer carry on the Anything goes school of martial arts with Akane.  
  
Now eight months later, he was finally being released. Kasumi had arranged for him to live with his aunt and her family. She had remembered that Genma had a sister and called to tell them about what had happened to him and they had offered to let him stay with them and since Ranma didn't have anywhere else to stay for the moment, had agreed. He was planning on staying there only long enough to be able to save some money and get a place of his own. They were on their way to pick him up and would be there any minute.  
  
"Ranma, your Aunt Irene is here." Sakura said as she led the family of four in to the room. He was sitting in his wheelchair next to the window. He turned his head to look at his new family.  
  
  
Serena was nervous about meeting her cousin Ranma for the first time. Her mother and father had come before to see him, but this was the first time she and Sammy were to meet him. After entering the room, she was surprised to see the thin young man sitting in front of the window. She could tell that at one time he had been very muscular and active but all that remained now was a grim expression on his face and a thin body, his muscles having disappeared from non-use.  
  
"Uncle Ken, Aunt Irene. Thank you for this." she heard him say quietly as he wheeled himself over.  
  
"It's so problem at all, Ranma." Her father said in a cheerful voice. "These are your cousins, Serena and Sammy." he introduced them.  
  
"Hi Ranma." Serena said quietly and Sammy started chattering at top speed.  
  
"Hi Ranma! Do you like video games? I love them. I've beaten all the mortal combats games that have been released. Have you tried them?"  
  
"Sammy, why don't you let Ranma answer one before asking another. Besides I don't think that Ranma wants to talk about a martial arts game right now." Irene said as she laid a hand on his shoulder as he rolled up to the group.  
  
Turning to the nurse, Ranma said, "Thanks for everything you have done, Sakura. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there with me this past year." reaching up, he gave her a hug.  
  
"Well I loved to help. To me, you're just like my children." more quietly, she asked, "Have you told them about it yet?"  
  
"No, I'm going to wait until we get there. I don't exactly know how to tell them."  
  
"Why don't you tell that all about what has happened to you on the way to Tokyo. It's a long drive."  
  
"I'll think about it." Ranma said softly before giving her another hug and releasing her. Ken had been close enough to hear what they had said and asked, "Tell us about what?"  
  
"I'll tell you on the way." Ranma sighed.  
  
  
Once on the road, Ranma started telling them everything that had happened to him since he had left on his first training trip, leaving out some of the worst things, like his fear of cats. When he got to the part of Jusanko, he said, "I'll show you when we get to the house, but for now believe that I do turn into a girl."  
  
"But that's impossible, Ranma." Ken said from the front seat, looking in the rearview mirror at the black haired young man sitting in-between Sammy and Serena.  
  
Ranma said nothing but continued his story. By the end the entire family was ready to find Genma and kill him slowly and painfully.   
  
As they pulled into the drive way, Irene said "If I ever see my no good brother again, I'll kick his but back to China. I was better than he was when we were growing up, and I'm better than he is now. I can't believe that he did that to you. Even Hopposi, who was a stubborn man never did anything like that to us."  
  
"You were trained in the anything goes martial arts? I thought that only pops and Mr. Tendo were trained by the old pervert." Ranma said surprised.  
  
"Well, he never took me on any of his training journeys with the guys, but when they were home in Nerima, he taught me a little and the rest I learned while watching them. Of course I had to put up with him stealing my bras all the time." she muttered to herself as she helped get the wheel chair out of the trunk.  
  
"He called me his student since he escaped from the cave they trapped him in but he never taught me anything. Probably because I was one of the best fighters in Nerima." Ranma said softly as he levered himself into the chair.  
  
"Why would he call you his student if he never trained you? And he used to steal your bras ma?" Serena asked confused.  
  
"Let me explain." Ranma said as Ken pushed his chair up to the front door. "Happosi is the master and creator of the anything goes martial arts training that I have been studying since I was five years old. Pop and Mr. Tendo went with him on journeys where he would make them help him steal bras and panties from women wherever they went. Finally, they trapped him in a cave where he was trapped until about two years ago, right after I found out about my engagement to Mr. Tendo's youngest daughter Akane. He considers himself my teacher because he created the style."  
  
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Serena said softly. They were in the living room by this time and everyone was starting to settle down on the chairs and couches. Suddenly Serena jumped up and went to the door behind Ranma. "Luna, there you are. Ranma, I want you to meet Luna." she said as she came around to the front for him holding the black cat.  
  
"Who... c..c..Cat!" he screamed, terrified and started to twitch and shake in his chair. He lowered his head as the family looked at him in shock. Suddenly, he let out a soft growl and tumbled down off of the chair and on to the floor. Playfully, Ranma-neko meowed at Luna and batted a paw/hand at her. She jumped down and her playful cat instincts took over. She started to play with the human that was acting like a cat.  
  
The Tuskinos just stared at the boy and the cat was the bounced around playing with each other. After a couple of minutes, Ranma turned around and jumped in to Serena's lap and curled up. Within a moment, he was asleep while everyone stared at him.  
  
"Maybe we should bring him up to the guest room and let him sleep. After he wakes up, we can ask him what just happened, Irene said softly and her husband nodded and stood up to take him from his daughter's lap. But before he could, Ranma woke up with a start.  
  
"Wha...what happened?" he asked sharply as he pushed himself off of Serena and onto the couch next to her.  
  
"We were hoping that you could tell us that." Ken said quietly. "One minute, you were fine and the next, you were acting like a cat."  
  
Upon hearing the word cat, Ranma immediately started to look frantically around. "You need to keep cats away from me." he said urgently. "It's very important. I can't control what happens when I see a c...cat."  
  
"What does happen?" Sammy asked.  
  
"It's because of what pop did to me to teach me a move called the cat fist. He strapped fish sausages to me and threw me into a pit of starving cats. Now because of that training, whenever I see a cat, I start acting like a cat and I use the cat fist if I feel threatened. It can slice through solid steel like paper. It is extremely dangerous." Ranma said urgently.  
  
Hearing this, Serena told him to shut his eyes and then hurriedly picked Luna up and put her out side and told her to go talk to Artemis or something. Coming back into the living room, she said, "Good thing we were to surprised to do anything. I'm going to have one of my friends take care of Luna for a while until we can figure something out." sitting back down next to him, she asked something that was bothering her. "Ranma, when you went cat, you were able to run around and jump and move your legs. How?"  
  
"I'm not completely paralyzed in my legs. Only about sixty percent and I'm not able to feel anything below the knees. I can walk somewhat with these big metal braces that are in one of my bags but it's kind of hard. I guess my cat form just ignores it and acts like it always does." Ranma said as he rubbed his forehead in a futile attempt to keep his headache from becoming a full-blown migraine.  
  
"I can see that you are tired. Why don't you go to bed for a while and Serena will bring Luna someplace." Irene said gentle and he nodded and started to maneuver himself back into his chair, waving off they motions to help. By the time that he had succeeded, he was pale and shaking. "Where will my room be while I'm here?" he asked quietly.  
  
"I'll show you. And you are welcome here for as long as you want." Irene said as she headed down the hall.  
  
"I know but I want to get out on my own. Here I am 19 years old and the only time I've lived alone was when I was in the hospital and I don't really think that that can be considered as living alone." he said softly, becoming depressed again.  
  
"Just take your time getting a place. We don't mind you here and a lot of places around here are nice." she said, then left him to take a nap.  
  
He lay there for a minute staring at the ceiling. As always when he was tired, his mine drifted back to Nerima and all the friends and fiancée's that were still there. Ukyo had been by to see him only once since he had gotten hurt. She had said that it was just to painful for her to see him like that so she would be staying away from him while he was in the hospital and for as long as he need to wear the braces or use a wheel chair.  
  
Shampoo and Cologne had visited twice. The first time had been to see how he was and how his injuries would affect him. The second time was to say good-bye. They had called off the husband thing claiming that she couldn't leave the tribe to marry a cripple and that they were going back to China the next day.  
  
Kodachi hadn't even bothered to visit once. Merely sending a card saying that she didn't think she could love him any more.   
  
Ryoga had wondered in about three months after he first got there and upon seeing his friend/rival laying there unable to work his legs properly, had left before he could say anything more than 'you brought this one yourself by the way you treat Akane' then he turned and walked right into the bathroom. Five minutes later, he finally found his way back to the main room where it took him another five minutes to find the exit.  
  
Kuno had shown up and gloated that now that he was hurt, Akane and the pig-tailed girl were all his.  
  
And then there was Akane. She had come by once after her father and told him his decision concerning the betrothal and asked him if he remembered what had happened. He had replied "Yes Akane, I do remember what happened. You must be very happy that your father broke the engagement." in a very calm, empty voice so unlike his usual manner of speaking that she just stared at him for a second. Finally she stood up without saying a word, and quietly left but not before he had seen the tear that slipped down her cheek.  
  
That had hurt the most. She hadn't apologized to him or even said that she hoped that he would get better soon. She just left, without saying a word.  
  
Turning over he slipped into a light and troubled sleep.  
  
  
  
Upstairs, later that night, Serena was on the phone with Mina. "Yeah it was so weird. He just freaked out. It's because of this training his father put him through and he also said that he turned into a girl because of something else his father did to him for the sake of the Art. And you know the craziest thing? I think I believe him. It doesn't seem to matter to him anymore. When he lost most of the use of his legs, I think he went into a depression so deep that he can't get out of it."  
  
"Yeah. After everything that you just told me, I would have to think that you were crazy and so was he but I think that he is telling the truth too." Mina said from across the line. Suddenly Serena could hear Artemis and Luna on the other end as Mina had it on speakerphone.  
  
"Maybe you could use the silver crystal over a period of months and heal his legs or maybe do it all at once. But that would mean letting him know who you are." Artemis said softly.  
  
"Yes but if she did it while he was asleep, then he wouldn't know. Serena I think you should heal him a little at a time while he is a sleep." Luna said firmly.  
  
"Alright. I was going to ask you about healing him anyway. Well I think that I'm going to catch some sleep. I'm tired." Serena said as she stifled a yawn.  
  
"Yeah see you at the arcade tomorrow. And bring Ranma, I would love to meet him." Mina said just before they each said goodbye and hung up.  
  
  
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Chapter 3  
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Serena set her alarm for midnight to wake her up so that she could start trying to help Ranma with the silver crystal, but she never ended up going to sleep. At 11:30 she got a call from Rei.  
  
"Serena, get down to the park right now. There is a monster draining the energy from some people." Rei said urgently. Serena could already see that she had transformed into Sailor Mars.  
  
"I'll be right there." She said and closed her communicator and quickly transformed into Sailor Moon. She jumped out of her window and hurried away, never seeing the face that was looking at her out of her downstairs window.  
  
  
  
Ranma stared after the girl in the short skirt as she ran away from the house. He had woke up around eleven because he just wasn't used to this house yet. The smallest sound woke him up. When Serena had gotten the call on her communicator, the soft beeping noise had alerted him that something was up. Then had come the soft sound like the shimmering of a bell. He had only looked outside because he thought he had seen pink light reflecting off of the trees outside. Then the girl had jumped down from Serena's upstairs window.  
  
He had heard stories from other patients in the hospital about the Sailor Scouts who protected Tokyo. Some had even shown him pictures of various scouts. His favorite had always been Sailor Moon.   
  
Now Sailor Moon had just jumped out of Serena's window right after he had heard some unusual sounds coming from her room that was right over his head. It didn't a rocket scientist to figure out that his cousin was Sailor Moon.  
  
Sitting up he grabbed his crutches from next to the bed and slipped out his window.  



	2. ch2

Ranma ½: Surprises  
  
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Chapter 2  
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Ranma cursed as he struggled to follow the fast form of his cousin as she ran down the street towards the large park that they had passed on the way to the Tuskino home.  
  
Finaly he got the hang of the crutchs and was able to at least partialy keep up with her though she was quickly going to out distance him if she went past the park. She stepped into the park cautiously and he hid behind a tree and watched as she made her customary speech.  
  
"I am the pretty sailor suited soilder, Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon, I shall punish you!" she said as the yoma stopped it's attck on the rest of the sailor scouts to look at her with a smirk.  
  
"Oh, so we finaly meet." a voice said from behind the yoma, who was holding onto Sailor Mars' leg as she hung upside down limply. A man with long black hair that reached down his back and ended just above his hips, stepped out of the shadows of a large tree.  
  
"Who are you? Let her go now!" Moon said as she grabbed her scepter out of no where.  
  
"I don't think so. My name is Ebonite and I have waited a long time to destroy you peskiy sailor scouts." the man said and released a black ball of energy at Sailor Moon, who closed her eyes and braced herself for impact. But the impact never happened. Instead, she heard a sound like thunder and opened her eyes just in time to see a bright blue ball explode, taking the black one with it.  
  
"Who threw that?" Ebonite demanded angrliy as he looked behind the bewildered leader of the scouts at the trees at the edge of the park. In that moment of inattenchen, jupiter jumped forward and rescued Mars from the yoma's grasp. At the same time, Mercury and Venus threw their attacks at it, Mercury's freezing it and Venus' chain breaking it into cunks of dead yoma, which promptly disappered in a flash of dark light and a bit of smoke.  
  
"I'll get you Sailors and who ever threw that energy too." Ebonite snarled and disappered as well.  
  
"Mars! Are you all right?" Sailor Moon exclaimed as she rushed towards where Jupiter was holding the now aware senshi of fire.  
  
"Yeah. But where were you?"   
  
"I was running here!" moon said angrily. Before she could continue, Venus stepped forward and said quietly, "I wonder who helped us."  
  
"Yes, I would also like to know." Ami said as she pulled out her mini computer and scanned Rei where she lay on the ground. "Well, there should be no permanent damage, but just be care full for the next few battles." Ami said as she closed the computer and made it disapper back to where ever she had pulled it from.  
  
"Ok, doctor." Mars said with a smile as Jupiter helped her to her feet.  
  
"Guys, tomarrow I'm brining Ranma to the arcade, as I'm sure that venus has already told you, so be nice to him and leave Luna and Artemis at home so that he doesn't freak out again." Moon said as she powered down to reguler Serena. The others follwed her example and nodded in understanding as they left to go back to their homes to get some much needed sleep.  
  
  
  
Ranma watched the five girls seperate and head off in their own directions, and silently blended himself into the shadows before serena could she him as she passed by on her way home. Inside his mind, he was wondering what the hell he was going to do about what he had just seen. On one hand, he could tell Serena and her friends that he knew and try to help them again if he could, but on the other hand, he could keep his mouth shut and just play along with not knowing who the Sailor Scouts were.  
  
Because he was so lost in his thoughts, and his danger sensing skills were so rusty from not using them in so long, he hadn't noticed that one of the girls hadn't left the park like the others had and was infact waiting for him to come out of hiding so that she could confront him.  
  
He started to step out into the open after a minute of thinking about his choices and was promptly knocked flat on his back before he had completely left the shadows.  
  
Lita stood over him as he gasped for breath for a minute, then demended in a cold vioce, "Who are you? What are you doing here and what did you see?"  
  
"Ranma Saotome, Serena's cousin and I followed her here when I saw her leave the house." he said as he sat up and grabbed his crutches from where they had fallen when she had pushed him to the ground. He struggled back to his feet and leaned against the tree behind him for balance for a moment before he headed out of the shadows to confront his attacker.   
  
"As to the question of what I have seen, that is none of your business. I didn't survive against hundreds of enemies to be bullied by a tomboy of a sailor scout." he snapped and Lita immeditaly punched him across the face for the insult.  
  
"How dare you?!" Lita said as he picked himself up and turned away from her.  
  
"I dare because I just don't care any more. I'm like this because of a tomboy that couldn't control her temper." Ranma said quietly, and while Lita was still in shock, turned away and left before she could say anything else.  
  
She watched him leave on his crutches and felt sorry for what she had done to him after promising that she would be nice to Serena's cousin. 'I can't beleive that a girl did that to him.' she thought as she quietly headed back to her lonely apartment.  
  
  
  
Ranma slipped back into his room through the window and found Serena standing near the bed with a stunned expression on her face. "Ranma? Where did you go? I...uh...came down to check on you and you were gone." she said as he settled back on the bed.  
  
"Serena, you shouldn't transform in your room, like that. The light reflected off the trees and it was noticable." he said as flicked the bed side lamp on.  
  
Serena gasped as his face was iluminated, showing where a black and blue mark was already forming. "What happened, Ranma?!" she exclaimed quietly as she sat down next to him on the bed and gently touched the mark.   
  
"Don't worry about it." he said flatly as he set the crutchs next to the bed against the wall, now that he could see what he was doing.  
  
Serena sighed at his answer and took out the silver crystal and sent a healing light to wash over him, healing the bruise instantly. After a moment, she sent more power at Ranma and healed a little bit of his injuries to his spine. She stopped after a minute and leaned against him, feeling slightly dizzy.  
  
"Are you ok, Serena? What did you do?" Ranma asked as he supported her untill the dizzy spell passed.  
  
"I healed your cheek and some of your spine injury." she said softly and he gasped.  
  
"How? The doctors said that nothing could help me!' he whispered sharply to her as they bother heard the sound of feet heading towards his room.  
  
"Don't tell any one about me and what I just did, ok? They can't know about me being Sailor Moon." she whispered urgently just before the door opened to revel her mother, wearing a robe and slippers.  
  
"Serena, what are you doing down here? And what are both of you doing up? It's almost midnight." she said and Serena immditaly stood up and left, saying goodnight to them as she tucked her brooch back in her pocket before her mother could notice.  
  
After she was gone, Irean turned back to ranma and smiled at him gentle. "You look better Ranma." she said as she gave him a kiss on his forehead.  
  
"Yeah, I feel better. Good night Aunt Irean." he said as she left and she said good night to him too.  
  
'I wonder what will happen if she keeps doing that to me. She seemed to be drained afterward, but I think that was why she was in here in the first place.' he thought as he turned off the light and layed back on the bed and looked out the open window.  
  
  
  
"Serena, it's time to wake up. Don't you have to go meet your friends in about five minutes?" Ranma said as he shook his cousin's shoulder. His aunt had asked him to go wake her up since it was already five minutes to twelve and she was supposed to meet her friends at the arcade at noon.  
  
"Just leave me alone. It's to earliy to leave. I'm not supposed to meet them untill nonn. Wake me up at eleven." she mumbled as she turned over.  
  
Ranma sighed as he glanced at the clock. "Serena, it is noon." he said as he shook he again.  
  
"What?!" she shrieked as she sat up and bounded out of bed.  
  
"I'll leave you alone so that you can get dresses." Ranma said as he hurried out of the room. She imerged a few minutes later and started to rush down the hall, before she remebered Ranma and grabbed his hand and started dragging him after her.  
  
"Hey! Hold on. I can't go that fast right now!" Ranma protested as they stopped at the front door to put on their shoes.  
  
"Sorry, but we have to hurry!" They are going to be so mad that I'm late, exspecialy Rei. She is so selfrightouse!" Serena said as she pulled out the wheelchair and waited for him to get settled into in before taking off down the side walk.  
  
"Slow down Serena! We're going to flip!" Ranma exclaimed as they carrened around a corner. She did slow down but not by much, and they arived at the arcade just in time to here Rei shriek, "Where is she? She's late!"  
  
"Let me handle this." Ranma said as they entered the building. Slightly louder he said, "I'm sorry I made you so late, Serena, but this chair is so annyoing sometimes."  
  
It worked like a charm by shutting Rei's mouth before she could say anything and attracking the other girls' attenchen.  
  
"Serena, is this Ranma?" Mina asked as the duo approched the table they were sitting at.  
  
"Yes, everyone, this is my cousin, Ranma. He's going to be hanging out with us today." Serena said as she parked the chair at the edge of the table and sat down next to Ami.  
  
"It's nice to meet everyone." he said with a small smile and everyone smiled and introduced themselves. Lita was the last to introduce herself and she apologized for hitting him.  
  
"That's ok, Akane used to smash me with her mallet over the horizon and some of the people I used to fight everyday could hit a lot harder than you did. Don't worry about it." he said as he shifted in his chair.  
  
The girls staired at him for a moment before Serena asked quietly, "Did you put the bruise on his face?"  
  
"Yeah. I caught him lurking in the shadows after the fight last night and I thought he was a spy for that new enemy so I kind of was mean to him and then he called me a tomboy and got me so mad that I socked him before I could stop myself." Lita said, miserably as she stared at the table top.  
  
"I don't beleive that you did that!" Serena exclaimed but calmed when Ranma put his hand on her forearm.  
  
"Serena, it's ok. I admit that I feel back into my old habits of provoking some one when I was startled. It's not entirely her fault." he said gently and smiled at her and then at Lita, who's sad expression disappered as she said the familar words, "He looks just like my old boyfriend."  
  
"Lita." the others said with a sweat drops as Ranma just looked at her surprise.  
  
Before he could ask what that was all about, screams started from outside and the girls rushed out, momentarily forgetting about Ranma, who rolled himself after them.  
  
Just outside the arcade, a yoma, who looked like a gient blue blob, was attacking people and draining their energy. "girls, you need to transform fast!" Luna shouted as she ran up to the stunned group, not relising that Ranma was just behind the girls, not that it mattered much as all of his attenchen was fixed on the yoma.  
  
"Girls, get away from here and change. I'll distract this thing for a while untill you guys get back." he said firmly and stood up a little shakely from his wheelchair.  
  
Serena nodded and pulled the girls towards an alley between the stores and quickly began their transformation.  
  
  
  
  
Back at the fight scene, Ranma was trying to dodge as they Yome sent pieces of it's self at him. Where ever the blobs touched, the area smoked and melted into a puddle of slag. Thanks to the healing that Serena had given him last night with her silver crystal, he was able to move easier without tripping every two seconds.  
  
Behind him, he could faintly hear the girls yelling their transformation phrases. After a minute, the scouts appered and began their introductions.  
  
"Hold it! Your evil ways will not go unpunished. I am the pretty sailor suited warrior, Sailor Moon and in the name of the moon, I shall punish you." Sailor Moon said as she posed on top of a brick wall with the others ranging around her.  
  
"In the name of Mars..."  
  
"Of Mercury..."  
  
"Of Venus..."  
  
"Of Jupiter..."  
  
"We shall punishe you, too!" the rest choursed together. Jumping down to the street, they sent their attacks towards the monster, even as it sent globs of stuff flying at them. The goop melted Venus' Love Me Chain, abosrbed Jupiter's Suprem thunder, and blocked Mars' fireballs. Mercury's Auqa Illusion froze the projectials, stopping them from reaching their targets and shatering them on impact with the street.  
  
"Way to go Mercury." Moon said as she pulled her scepter from subspace. "Moon Scepter Elimination!"   
  
The attack blasted the yoma and after a second there was nothing left but a black smear on the road. Suddenly, a voice from the side attracked their attenchen. "Well, I see that you've defeated another of my yomas, but next time you won't be so lucky." Ebonite said just before he disappered in his smoky black flash of light.  
  
As soon as he was gone, Ranma let out a moan of pain as he slumped to the ground. "Ranma! Are you ok?" Moon yelled as she ran over to him..  
  
"Yeah, but I slammed my knee when I was dodging one of the attacks. I think I popped it out of the socket." he said as he layed back on his back. After taking a deep breath, he grabbed his lower leg and shoved it back into place with a sickening sounding crack.  
  
"Ewww!!!!!!!" Moon and Venus yelled as they stared at him in shock. They had never seen some one do anything like that by themselves before and it really grossed them out.  
  
"How did you know how to do that?" Mercury asked as she bent down to look at the knee and make sure it was set right.  
  
"How could you do that?!" Mars said, her face green.  
  
"It's happened occasionaly over the years and as my worthless faher never bothered to take us to a hospital if we got hurt during our training trip, I had to learn to take care of myself if I got hurt. He certainly wasn't going to." Ranma said as he sat back up.  
  
"So what do you do now that you've set it?" Mercury asked as she pulled out her mini-computer and scaned his knee for further problems.  
  
"I'll put some of the medican herbs on it from the supply in my backpack at the house." he said but Moon just shook her head.  
  
"No way Ranma. If my parents found out that you got hurt in one of the attacks, they could find out about me. I'll just fix you up again, like I did last night." she said as she pulled out the crystal from her locket. Sending the healing light over him, she concentrated on healing both his knee and some more of his back.  
  
As soon as the light stopped, Ranma lunged forward and caught his cousin as she collasped. "Serena, are you alright?" he asked as he shook her gently.  
  
"Yeah, I'm just tired from using the crystal to heal your knee and some more of your back." she said as she detransformed.  
  
"More of his back? What do you mean?" Jupiter said. She had been silent since Ebonite had left.  
  
"I've been using the crsytal to heal his back so that he can walk without those braces. Besides, he can't practice the art of Anything Goes Martial Arts with a back like that." Serena said as she and Ranma climbed to their feet.  
  
"'Anything Goes' what's that?" Lita asked as she and the others followed Serena's example and detransformed.  
  
"It's my family's style. Onlt the Tendos and the grandmaster Hopposi practice it." Ranma said with a dark look on his face. "You know, everything is perfect except for the fact I still can fell my left foot. Thanks Serena!" he exclaimed as he gave his cousin a hug, but right in the middle of the hug, it started to pour. In a flash, he was a she and the others were staring at her in shock.  
  
"Well, I guess you guys know now. I'll tell you all about when we get out of this rain. Oh and can one of you grab the wheel chair?" Ranma asked as she headed towards the arcade, holding Serena's hand and the others following with the chair in tow.  
  
Once they were setted at their table, Ranma explained all about the curse and at the end, dumped he hot tea over head, instently changing into a he. Ignoring the stares from the rest of the arcade, he calmly wrung out his hair and looked at the girls surrounding him.  
  
"Wow! I would love to be able to turn into something else!" Mine exclaimed as she stared in thin air with a dreamy expression on her face.  
  
"No you don't. I have to wear a girls bathing suit when I go to the beach and water seems to seek me out. If you turned into a guy, you could no longer wear any skirts because if you got splashed, you would be a guy in a skirt. And if you turn into an animal, it's even worse. I know some people with animal curses and you either tear your clothes to pieces if you turn into a large animal, or if you turn into something small, like Shampoo or Moose, then you would lose your clothes becauses they were to big for you and you can't really carry them in a cat or duck form. Some times I think I'm the only one lucky enough to get a human curse." Ranma said with a sigh.  
  
"I can see your point." Ami said as she studied him with a serious eye.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm used to it be now. I've had it for over three years, since I was sixteen."   
  
"You're nineteen?" Rei asked in surprise.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be twenty in about two months. Why?" Ranma asked, curiose about the hopefull expression on the black haired girls face.  
  
"Oh, no reason, but tell me, do you have a girlfriend?" she asked with Mina leaning forward to hear the answer too.  
  
Ranma was silent for a moment as they waited. "Let me tell you something about something first before I answer that, ok?" he said and waited untill they nodded before continuing. "For the past three years I have had Shampoo, a Chinese amazon, trying to kill me girl side and marry my boy side because I defeated her in battle in both forms before I knew about the kiss of death and the kiss of mariage. Then there is my bestfriend Ukyo, who I found out that I was engaged to when I was five. I had thought she was a boy when we were little, so when Pop asked if I liked her or food better, I said food. I found out later when she showed up in Nerima and attacked me for abandoning her years ago, which I had no clue about. Then there is Akane. I was engaged to her before we were even born. Kodachi I was never ingaged to but she still was obsessed with my guy side while her brother Kuno was obsessed with my girl side and attacked my guy side to get me to release his 'beautiful Akane and the pigtailled girl from my evil sorcerous ways.'" Ranma said in a perfect impression of Kuno's voice and manner.  
  
"Then there is the other dozen families that Pop engaged me to, just to fill his fat stomach. Ever since we got to Nerima, all the girls have been fighting eachother to see who got to marry me and most of the time, I ended up in the middle of it some how. The only one who didn't want to marry me was Akane. She always claimed that she didn't care about me, that I was a pervert and I could marry anyone I wanted, but when ever one of the others glomped me, it was my fault and I ended up getting to meet Mr. Mallet again and taking an express trip over the horizon."  
  
"Why would she call you a pervert?" Lita asked.  
  
"When we first showed up at the Tendo dojo, it was raining and I was a girl at the time. Akane offered to be friends and since I never really had a friend since we were always on the move ever since we began the training trip, I was happy to accept. But she hated guys because everymorning she had to battle most of the guys in school because they wanted to go out wither. It was because of Kuno. He declared that the only way anyone could go out with her was if they defeated her first. But, anyway. I was taking a bath, trying to work up enough nerve to go down and she walked in on me, even though I had a sign on the door say don't enter. So she walked in, thinking I was a girl, and then seeing that there was a guy in there, she calmly turned around, put on her robe, closed the door, and went screaming thiught the house where she picked up the table and was about to storm right back to the bathroom to clober me with it. I showed up and introdcued myself and pop explained everything and demonstrated my curse. Well, me and Akane got into an argument about whose fault it was about the bathroom and I said some really stupid things. In the end I ended getting smashed with table anyway."  
  
"She sounds very violent." Ami said and Ranma nodded.  
  
Yeah, but anyway. I put up with all this for over two years, but when I was hurt and everyone found out that I wasn't going to be able to walk without help, the Tendos broke the engagement because I couldn't carry on the dojo. The Amazons went back to China, Kuno and Kodachi who are both very crazy, said I was worthy of their time, Ukyo said it was to painful to see me like that, and Ryoga, my enemy, who was also one of my best friends came to see me and told me that I had brought it on my self because of the way I treated Akane, and I admit, it wasn't always very nice to her, but most of the time, she was the one who started the fights.  
  
"So to answer your question, I'm not ready to go out with anyone right now." he said firmly and the girls just nodded in understanding.   
  
Suddenly, Lita stood up and slammed her hand onto the table. "If I ever meet up with any of them, I'll kill them! How dare they treat you like that. Didn't they ever think about you? It was like you were a prize to be won!" she yelled.  
  
"I've...put it be hind me. While I like you spirt, don't do anything against them." Ranma said but just then, the door to the Acade opened and a guy with shaggy black hair, a bandana, and a huge backpack with an umbrella strapped to the top, entered.  
  
"Ryoga?" Ranma said as he stood up.  
  
  
  
Sorry it's been so long since I updated this story. It will probably be just as long for the next chapter. In the mean time read my Duo'  
s Pain and I'll try to hurry up with the next chapter for this. Gomen!!!!  
  
Shinigami-chan 


	3. 

Chapter 3

Ranma ½: Old Friends

***************

Chapter 3

*************** 

By the way, in this story, the Moko Takabisha Ranma learned on his own and he is the only person in the world who can do it. You will see why later. Now, on with the story.

***************

"Ryoga?" Ranma said as he stood up. The motion attracted the attention of the eternally lost-boy, who was looking around, trying to find someone who could give him directions. 

The girls looked at the two in surprise for a moment before Ryoga wondered over towards their table, almost getting lost on the way. Stopping in front of the table, Ryoga looked at Ranma for a long moment before asking, "How do you know my name?"

"P-chan, don't you recognize me? It's me, Ranma!" he said, surprised. After all, they had known each other ever since they were kids.

"Don't call me P-chan!" Ryoga yelled and punched at the pigtailed youth in front of him. Unprepared for an attack, Ranma didn't block fast enough and ended up sprawled on the floor after he flew backwards over the back of the booth.

"Ranma!" the girls yelled together as they rushed to put themselves in between him and the confused youth who looked like he was trying to wake himself up from a dream.

"Ranma? But he's crippled!" Ryoga said as he stared at the thin figure on the floor in shock.

"He is not crippled!" Serena shouted as she glared up at him, her blue eyes glued to his green ones.

"Serena, it's ok. I am crippled to a certain extent." Ranma said as Serena and Mina slowly helped him to his feet.

"But you're getting better, Ranma."

"I know, but I don't think I'll be up to taking on Ryoga here for a while." He said as he sat back down. Looking up at the still shocked Ryoga, he smiled bitterly and asked, "So how are the others?"

"Others? They're fine." Ryoga said as he sat down across from Ranma. "But, why ask me? You probably see and talk to them more than I do." Ryoga hadn't seen Ranma since he had visited him at the hospital, so he didn't know that they had never visited him except for Kasumi.

"I haven't seen any of them since around the time I last saw you, except for Kasumi every once in a while." Ranma said softly and stared down at the table.

"What?! I can't believe that Akane or anyone else wouldn't visit you!" Ryoga exclaimed.

"I guess you didn't hear then. The Tendos broke off the engagement because I couldn't run the dojo for them, Ukyo said it was just to painful to see me in the hospital so she just left, the amazons decided that I was no longer worthy to be Shampoos husband and theKunos stopped by once to tell me that I was no long worthy of being their opponent or the future husband." Ranma said in an empty voice.

Ryoga just stared at him for a moment in shock. He just couldn't believe that all the people who had been so after Ranma to either marry him or kill him would just leave him like that. Thinking along those lines reminded him of something that he had been regretting ever since he had done it.

"Ranma, I want to apologize for the things I said the last time I saw you. I let my hatred for you block the fact that you have been my best friend ever since we used to fight in elementary school, and I didn't mean it when I said that you had deserved what happened to you." He said hesitantly as he looked down at the table. He had had a lot of time to think since he had last seen Ranma and he had a new outlook at things…

"It's ok Ryoga. You just got caught up in the moment and then got lost before you could do anything about it." Ranma said with a gentle smile at the lost boy as he looked up, which Ryoga reflected after a moment.

The peace was shattered a moment later when Mina said, "So guys, either of you looking for a girlfriend right now?"

Everyone stared at her for a second before Ranma calmly and deliberately started banging his head on the table.

"Um, I got one all ready." Ryoga said with a heavy blush.

"I don't want one." Ranma said, not pausing in his banging.

"Mina! After you heard all of what happened to him, you ask if Ranma wants a girlfriend?" Serena said as she stared at her blond friend before turning to Ranma and snapping, "Stop that Ranma. It's not going to do anything but give you a headache."

"Ow." Ranma moaned as he left his head on the table. "So how is Akane. I assume that was who you meant?" 

"Umm, no. I meant Akari. I founder her not to long after I saw you last time and realized that I loved her more than I ever did Akane." Ryoga said, his face red in embarrassment.

"I was wondering when you would figure out that you were meant for her." Ranma said as he lifted his head and smiled at him.

"So Ranma, I thought you couldn't walk without your braces." Ryoga said and Serena smiled brightly at him. 

Before Ranma could say anything, she said, "I'm helping him with that. Soon he will be as good as new!"

Ryoga raised an eyebrow at her as the others suddenly started banging their heads on the table or staring at her in shock. "What?" he asked calmly and Serena's face paled as she realized what she had said.

"Nothing!" she said nervously as she glanced around quickly to see if anyone had heard her besides the ones at the table. Luckily, there was no one near their table so only Ryoga had heard his slip. "I mean that I was helping him with some things last night with his legs and now he can walk! Hee hee…" she said with a small sweat drop as Ranma, Ray, and Mina all started banging their heads even harder.

"Right, you expect me to believe that you helped him with physical therapy one night only and suddenly he can walk just fine? I may not have been to school since junior high school, but I'm not completely stupid." Ryoga said as he leaned back in the booth.

"He is right, ya know. We went to school together back then and when he managed to get to school he had some of the highest scores in our grade. Back then, we were pretty close in strength though I always managed to get the last bread of the day, but it was fun competing like that against him when he wasn't trying to kill me." Ranma said with a wistful smile as he held a hand to his aching head while Ray and Mina slumped in their seats with their heads on the table, groaning.

"Ranma… do you think we can trust him with this?" Ami whispered but Ryoga's ears caught it any way.

"Trust me with what?

Ranma gave a single sharp nod and leaned back, gesturing for Ami to tell him the story about who they were and their powers.

Taking a deep breath, Ami began to tell him about the Silver Millennium and who they were back then. By the time she got to the part about Queen Beryl killing them all, Ryoga held up a hand to stop her.

"During one of my travels, I got to a Tibetan temple and I stayed there with them, learning some meditation techniques. While I was there, they told me this story about a kingdom on the moon that was destroyed and it's subjects who were sent forward to earth. There were two representatives from each planet except earth and the moon as the prince and the princess from those two were meant to be together. Each planet had a girl who was close to the moon princess and they each had a Knight to protect them but from what the monk said, there was hardly enough energy to send them all forward, that the knights wouldn't awaken until both the one they were to protect was in danger and in danger of their own lives. I don't mean like the regular danger but a danger so great that they were almost dead." Ryoga said, the longest explanation that Ranma could remember giving since the time in the bathroom at the Tendo dojo when he explained about how he got his curse.

"I don't remember anything about the Knights. Maybe Luna and Artemis would know about them." Mina said and Ryoga threw her a confused look.

"Luna and Artemis are the cats, right? So how can they talk?" 

"They are lunar Cats. They have the power to speak because of the crescent moons on their foreheads." Ami said as she studied him. "Do you have any information on the Knights, Ryoga?"

"Some. One is supposed to be a strong fighter. Another is supposed to be really smart. One is a sweet, caring, and usually happy guy. A fourth one was very honorable. Fifth was into art. The sixth into racing. The seventh was a stoic guy that never showed his emotions and the eighth one was a very happy one who would fight if he had to, but also seemed to be surrounded by death. He was always happy and loud while she was always quiet, shy and sad. He was like the perfect counter balance for the scout of his planet. She was the scout of death and rebirth I believe. Or was it death and destruction? I can never remember which one it was. There was also mention of one more pair, but they couldn't tell me anything about them." He said as he frowned thoughtfully at the table.

"Wow. So I guess that means that each of us had someone to love us back then and they protected us, how romantic!" Mina said with stars in her eyes.

"I guess, but don't forget, it may be years before you see them." Ranma warned them quietly and they reluctantly nodded.

"I wonder who the last pair is." Ami said thoughtfully.

"I don't know, but I hope they show up soon. This new enemy seems to be stronger than any of the others." Lita said and the other scouts nodded in agreement. They finished their drinks and ice cream in silence.

Rei still had some chores to do but didn't really what to be alone so invited the others over while she did them, to just hang out. 

"Sure! You have that new manga, right Rei? You know the one that just came out two days ago?" Serena said excitedly and Rei sighed before nodding. As they started to head out the door, Serena suddenly stopped and turned to Ranma. "Ranma, what should we do with the chair? And what are we going to tell my parents when we get home? I mean, you left in the chair, barely able to walk on your own without stumbling, but now, you can walk almost as well as you could before."

The other girls stared at her in shock. For once, she had considered all the possibilities before they even accrued to Ami, the brain of the group.

"I figure that we could always just drag it with us to the shrine and call for your dad to give us a ride home, thereby avoiding the whole thing for a while. We can't exactly tell them that you're the Moon Princess and you used magic to heal me." Ranma said logically and it was Ryoga's turn to stare at him. Seeing the stare, Ranma snapped, "What?"

"You actually thought something all the way out." Ryoga said dumbly and Ranma just glared at him before turning and leaving with the girls who had gotten over their own shock by this time. "Hey, wait up!" Ryoga said and hurried after them with the wheel chair.

By the time they reached the temple, Ranma was panting with exhaustion to the surprise of almost all present. The only ones not surprised were Serena and Lita. Ryoga ended up carrying him to the top on his back with the girls bringing the chair. At the top he said quietly, "I'm sorry guys, but I haven't used most of these muscles for almost a year."

"It's ok Ranma, we know it's not your fault." Serena said as they rested at the top of the stairs before moving on to Rei's room where they all sat around the small table the girls used to study when they came over for a study group.

"Who did this to you?" Mina said as she twirled a piece of her long hair around her finger.

"Yeah, you wouldn't tell us afterwards at the hospital." Ryoga said when Ranma was quiet after Mina's question. The others started to prompt him except for Ami who was saying, "We shouldn't pry." and Serena who already knew what had happened.

"Fine, fine,what happened was, Kodachi, Ukyo, and Shampoo all showed up at the dojo. They saw me before I could get away and they started fighting and I ended up in the middle of it somehow. I never did figure out why that was." He said the last part more to himself than the others, but then continued. "Akane came home and went ballistic again and slammed us all. Kodachi ended up in the tree, Ukyo was smashed into the ground and Shampoo and I were smashed into the wall. She called Kodachi's house and the Cat Café to come get Kodachi and Shampoo and lugged Ukyo back to her restaurant, leaving me in the wall, or at least, I think that was what happened to the other girls, because all four of them were gone by the time Kasumi found me. Now can we drop it?" He said and got up from the table to look out the window at the other side of the room.

"Akane did this to him?" Ryoga said shocked and Serena nodded somberly. "He told my parents the whole story when he called to see if he could live with us for a while."

"Last night, before he left the park, he said he was like this because a tomboy couldn't learn to control her temper." Lita said, just as shocked as Ryoga.

"But why would she do something like that? It wasn't his fault that they were fighting over him." Mina said angrily.

"Remember he said that she always thought it was his fault." Ami said as she recalled what he had said in the arcade.

"Now that I think about it, she was always blaming him for our fights, even when I attacked him." Ryoga said and looked over at the thin, pigtailed teenager over at the window with something akin to regret in his eyes. Quietly, he stood up and approached him., stopping just behind Ranma, who turned around to face him.

"Ranma, would you like to spar with me sometime? You know, build yourself back up now that you're basically healed." 

"Sure. You were always the best one to fight with because you were the only one who was a challenge for a long time." Ranma said as he nodded. "Maybe you could stay at my Aunt and Uncle's house with me for a while. I hope it'll be ok." Ranma said as they both headed back to the table to join the others as Rei left to finish her chores. Just before she left the room, Ranma jumped to his feet and said, "Rei, could I help you with your chores? It would help me get back into shape."

"Are you sure?" she asked and at his nod, she pulled out a broom and handed it to him. "In that case, you can sweep the leaves in the yard into a pile to be burned. That shouldn't be to hard, right?" she said with a smile as she pulled out a bucket and a rag to wash the floors.

The girls sat outside on the veranda talking and watched as Ranma swept the yard, while Ryoga started to do some katas off to the side to pass the time. Rei joined Ranma about half an hour later after she had finished her other chores and they finished the yard quickly. 

As Rei put the brooms on the veranda, Ranma and Ryoga began a gentle spar, but before they got to far into it, a group of four girls arrived at the temple.

"Sestuna! Hotaru! Guys! What are you doing here?" Serena said excitedly as she charged up to the small group and gave them each a hug.

"We came to talk to you five." Haruka said as she pointedly looked at Ranma and Ryoga who were approaching with the other girls.

"Oh, don't worry about the guys, they all ready know about us." Serena said and the four outer scouts tensed up.

"You told outsiders about us?!" Haruka exclaimed and Michiru looked shocked.

"Ryoga already knew and Ranma found out after I transformed in my room and he saw me leave." Serena said.

"Well, you can erase their memories. It is dangerous for strangers to know about us." Michiru said as she looked over at the boys again. Suddenly she gasped loudly as she got a good look at Ryoga.

As the others looked at her in surprise, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh my God, Ryoga! It's been such a long time, I thought I would never see you again." She said against his neck as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her.

"Michiru? Is it you?" he asked and at her nodded, he let out a whoop and swung her around in a circle. After a minute, he put her down and gave her another hug before releasing her to look her over before pulling her back into his arms for yet another hug.

"Michiru? You know this guy?" Haruka asked stunned.

"Haruka! I want you to meet my cousin Ryoga Hibiki. I haven't seen his since he disappeared when he was 12. His side of the family has the worst sense of direction anyone has ever seen." She explained and Ranma piped up from behind them.

"I remember you Michiru. You used to walk him to school every day."

"Yes, but who are you?" 

"Ranma Saot…um, just Ranma." He said, catching himself before he could say his last name.

"Ranma? Oh I remember you. You were always getting the last bread of the day before Ryoga, right? He was always complaining about it."

"Yeah, we've had out differences, but we're actually pretty good friends."

Haruka had been listening to all of this in silence but now a frown spread across her face. "Ranma, what happened to you? I've never seen you look so bad before." She said suddenly and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her.

"What do you mean, Haruka?" Michiru asked confused.

"We were in school together when I was in eight grade. We were always competing against each other which he would always win unless it was a race." Haruka said and she saw recognition spread across Ranma's face. 

"I don't believe this. How have you been Haruka-chan?" Ranma said with a slow grin crossing his face.

"Don't call me Haruka-chan, Ran-chan." She snapped and Ranma's face lost it's grin suddenly, and he turned away and picked up his discarded broom and started sweeping the clean ground.

"Don't call him Ran-chan. It probably reminds him of Ukyo." Ryoga whispered harshly to Haruka while Serena hurried over to talk to Ranma. Everyone stared at the two as Serena put a hand on Ranma's shoulder,talking softly to his, but Ranma just shrugged her hand off and headed for the trees that surrounded the temple, tossing the broom at Rei as he passed her.

As he dissappered, Haruka finally turned to Ryoga who was still glaring at her and asked, "What the hell happened to him? He's not the same Ranma I remember."

"If you'd been through what he's been through the last four years, you would understand." Turning to Serena, he asked he to explain and then hurried after Ranma.

"…and now he's staying at my house for now so that he can get out on his own." Serena finished and the outer scouts stared at her in shock. 

"That poor young man." Sestuna sighed as she shook her head. Hatoru and Michiru were almost in tears and Haruka was ready to kill Genma and the Tendos. 

"Ryoga is going to help him get back into shape, but even in the bad shape he's in right now, he still help out in the fight last night." Mina said, and the other inner scouts nodded.

"How?" Sestuna asked.

"He threw a blue energy ball at Ebonite, stopping an attack that was coming at me." Serena said and Sestuna looked at her sharply. 

"Do you know what this attack was called?"

"No, it just came out of nowhere. Why?"

"From the way you descaribed it, it sounded like it was a Moko Takabisha." Sestuna said and from behind her Ranma suddenly said, "It was."

Spinning around, the scout of Pluto stared at him in something akin to horror. "Only one person in all of history has been able to learn Moko Takabisha and he's been dead for a thousand years."

"And who was that?" Ranma asked.

"Jupiter Knight. How the hell did you learn that move?" she demanded and everyone stared at her because it was a well know fact that she didn't swear.

"I don't know, I just picked it up one day." He said as he watched her warily. Before anyone could say anything, five teenage boys arrived at the top of the steps.

They would have gone unnoticed because of the confirntation between Ranma and Sestuna, but one of them a boy with knee length brown hair pulled back into a braid was singing extremlly loud in English with a another boy, this one Chinese, yelling at him to shut up.

Rei immedtaly stepped forward and put herself in between the two boys, surprising all five of them. "Please, both of you be quiet on temple grounds." She snapped.

"Do not tell me what to do, onna." The Chinese boy said sharply before turning back to the boy with the braid.

Stunned and angry at the tone he had addressed her in, she spun him around and slapped him. Everyone present, including the other four guys, stared at her like she had two heads. "You shouldn't have done that, lady. Wufei doesn't seem to like women to much." The braided boy said as he grabbed one of Wufei's arms with the small blonde grabbing the other one as Wufei started towards her.

"Let go of me Maxwell, Winner, or you will lose the use of your arms very shortly." Wufei growled and wrenched his arm free from the blonde and punched the braided one in the face. Before he could reach Rei, who had backed up a couple feet, Ranma and Ryoga stepped in front of him each glowing with ki.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ranma said as he prepared a Moko Takabisha in his hands.Seeing the ki ball, Wufei froze and started to back away.

"You can control your ki?" he asked warily and both Ranma and Ryoga nodded once, firmly. "Then I apologise for intending to strike your woman." He said with a quick bow before putting more space between them.

"She isn't our woman but she is a friend." Ranma said as he disperced the ki ball.

"What's ki?"this came from the braided one and Wufei snapped absently, "It is the energy inside a living thing, but only a skilled martial artist or a monk could hope to tap into it. Those two have to be masters to manifest that large of a battle aura and the attacks, Maxwell."

"Can't you ever just call me Duo?" Maxwell sighed before turning back to the other, larger group. "Hi! I'm Duo Maxwell. We heard that there was a person who worked at this temple who could do fire readings."

"Hi Duo. My name is Rei and I'm the Priestess here, and yes I can do fire readings. Why did you seek me out?" Rei asked.

"Well, you see, I can't remember anything before I was five, not even my real name and I was wondering if you could use the fire reading to help me." Duo said, completely serious.

"Ok, follow me and I will consult with the scared fire." She said and started off towards the temple. 

"Wait! Can we watch?" Serena called and Rei shook her head. 

"Serena you know better than to ask me to let you watch a personal fire reading for someone else." She scolded then lead Duo away, leaving the two groups alone.

As soon as she was settled in front of the fire with Duo kneeling behind her, she knew that something was going to happen and it would not be good.

Thank you for waiting so patiatly for this next chapter. I'm sorry for taking so long, but I've been busy in school and I stll am. It will be a while before I get anything else out except maybe for Ranmaeva. I almost have the next chapter done. I need everyone's help to pick a new name for this story. It's now going to have Gundam Wing in it so I can't really call it Ranma Moon any more. Any ideas? Review and put your ideas in. Thanks.

Shinigami-chan


	4. Venus Knight arrives

Ranma ½: New Friends

Ranma ½: New Friends

Arrival of Venus Knight

***************

Chapter 4

***************

"So what's gonna happen?" Duo asked as Rei kneeled in front of a huge fire.

"Shh. You must be quiet. I'm going to ask the fire about your past. But you need to concentrate and keep your mind clear." Rei said and then began to chant and do the hand movements. After a moment, the fire flared up and showed a brief flash of a planet, Saturn by the look of the rings, and then it changed to a view of a small four person plane crashing, both engines on fire. Suddenly, the door on the side of the plane popped open and two figures were pushed out. One looked like a small boy, around five with brown hair half way down his back. The other was a seven years old girl with brown hair the same length as the boy. As they parachuted to the ground, the plane exploded in midair and the blast caught the boy's parachute, setting it on fire. The two children were separated as the boy began to fall faster and a wind carried the girl away. Just before the vision ended, the girl screamed, "Chris!"

The fire ended and Rei slumped to the over slightly. From behind her, Duo said, "Was it supposed to talk?"

"No. I've only ever had one other reading that spoke." Rei said shakily. Before either of them could say anything else, they heard people shouting outside. As one, they jumped to their feet and rushed outside.

"Girls, get out of here!" Ranma screamed as he threw a Moko Takabisha at a monster that held Quatre, the blond that had come with Duo and Wufei. "Are you ready Ryoga?"

"Lets go, Ranma." Ryoga said and charged at the rock monster. He touched one finger to its chest and yelled, "Bakusai Tenketsu!" As a part or the creature's chest exploded, the other three guys beside Ranma and Quatre, who had been knocked out, stared at him in shock, though you couldn't tell from looking at the tall one with strange hair and the slightly shorter one with the intense blue eyes. They just looked impassive.

Wufei on the other hand, looked like he was going to faint from shock. His skin was pale and his eyes were bulging, like they were going to pop right out of his head. He had never seen some one use their ki as much as these two boys were capable of. Most masters that he had heard of who used their ki could only do one attack like that before they collapsed from strain. But these guys were using their ki almost continually to speed themselves up, strengthen their bodies, make themselves slightly more powerful, and yet they were still throwing attacks like Ranma's Moko Takabisha.

They girls had disappeared to transform as now as they charged back to battle the monster, they saw that they might not have even bothered. The monster already was half blown away from numerous attacks from both Ranma and Ryoga, but still had a good grip around Quatre's neck. 

Quatre was awake now and was struggling to get away but the grip on his neck was just to tight, so tight he could barely breath. With mounting horror, he watched as the monster suddenly regenerated the missing and crumbling remains of its body.

Generating a couple small boulders out of thin air, it started to throw them at the scouts. Sailor Venus ducked out of the way of one and directly into the path of another. It slammed into her stomach, throwing her backwards into a wall, where she slumped to the ground.

The creature chuckled as it generated a larger boulder and got ready to throw it. "No…" Quatre wheezed as he clutched at the hand around his throat. "Nonononono…NO!!!!" he suddenly screamed and a bright yellowish orange glow surrounded him. The glow threw the monster back, missing its arm, and gently put Quatre on the ground. Looking at him, everyone could see the symbol of Venus glowing brightly on his for head and a determined look in his eyes.

"I will not allow you to hurt my princess. Venus Knight Power!!" as the scouts watched in shock, a gray uniform like the Nega-verse Generals appeared, trimmed in yellow with an orange cape thrown over his shoulder and a yellow mask over his eyes. In his hands were two scimitars that glowed in the sunlight.

Without a word he charged towards the monster and slashed at it, carving huge chunks of rock/skin away each time. Finally when there was little more than half a chest and the head left, he jumped back, made his swords disappear and yelled "Venus Heat Crusher!" A bight orange ball shot from his hands, like Ranma's Moko Takabisha, and vaporized what remained. 

There was complete silence for a moment before Duo let out a whoop as he rushed up to Venus Knight. "Quatre! This is so cool! I can't believe you're a super hero. It's just like Superman!"

Venus Knight just stood there for a moment, looking at Duo before suddenly slumping to the ground unconscious. His uniform flickered once before it disappeared, leaving him in his normal clothes.

Rei, who hadn't transformed because she was standing next to Duo the entire time, ordered Duo and Ryoga to bring him and Mina, who had detransformed after being knocked out, into the temple to her room. As she led the way, the other scouts slipped away and detransformed before joining them.

"So, I have a question." Duo said as he sat next to Quatre, who was on the floor on a mat.

"Yes?" Rei asked. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, where Mina was laying.

"Are you one of those super heroes in the short skirts? I saw a picture a while ago of all nine of them and the only one that wasn't here to do was the one with the red skirt and the long black hair. Your eight friends also disappeared at the same time as the other fighters showed up so I'm also wondering if they're them. They all have the same hair styles as them and while that might not be much more than a coincidence, the girl with the long blond hair done up in meatballs is just to noticeable and unique. I've been all over the world and the colonies but I've never seen anyone else with that hair do, add that to the fact that the only two people I saw with it are in the same place, with one disappearing just as the other showed up is just about 99% impossible." He said and everyone who was awake in the room stared at him in shock.

"Duo actually solved one of the biggest mysteries in the world by putting things together logically?" Wufei said shocked.

"Yep! And guess what. I found out that my real name is Chris. That's what we found out in the reading. It seems that my parents and another kid, I think she was an older sister or something, were flying and the engines caught on fire. Our parents pushed us out and then the plane exploded which caught my shoot on fire and the wind carried the girl away. It would explain a lot because I woke up from a coma and was brought to L2 where my adoptive parents abandon me." Duo said and was silent after he finished. He was always quiet after talking about his past. But he had never revealed anything about his past to the other guys so this was quiet a shock to them.

As the scouts started protesting, there was another person in the room that was just as shocked but for a completely different reason. Lita starred at him, her eyes slowly filling with tears. "No…it's impossible." She whispered and Ami, who was sitting next to her turned to see what was wrong with her friend.

"Lita? What's impossible? What's wrong?"

Hearing Ami's question, all action senesced and all attention focused on the brown haired girl. "Ami, what's wrong with Lita?" Serena asked as she scrambled over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. As Lita felt the arms wrap around her, she broke down and started sobbing into Serena's shoulder.

"I don't know. She said it's impossible and started crying." Ami said as she too tried to comfort her.

"Is she ok?" Duo asked as he approached them.

Hearing that, Lita started sobbing harder but she let go of Serena and lunged at Duo, wrapping her arms around the surprised boy. Hesitantly he wrapped his arms around her and started to rock her gently. After a few minutes, her tears slowed and she leaned away from him. "They told me you were dead."

"Huh?!"

"You're my brother Chris. When we got separated, I was so worried but when they never found you, they told me you were dead and sent me to our Aunt Alisa. I should have tried to find you, I shouldn't have given up!" she said and a few more tears slipped out.

"You were the girl the wind carried away!" Duo said in sudden realization. "Hey, could you tell me about them? Our parents I mean."

"Sure. I can't believe I've got my brother back!" she said and broke down again though she was smiling through her tears.

"Hump, weak woman, crying over Maxwell." Wufei said, maybe a little louder than he had meant to because Michiru slapped the back of his head and Ranma, Ryoga, Haruka, Sestuna, Hotaru, Rei, and Mina glared at him.

"Wufei, she is not weak just because she is crying. How would you react to seeing a family member after believing that they were dead foe the last ten years?" Trowa said calmly from where he was leaning against the wall. He was the teenager that had the weird bands that covered half his face. He and Heero, the one with the messy brown hair, had been introduced to everyone else after they had settled Quatre and Mina on the beds.

Wufei mumbled something and walked over to the window to stare out at the courtyard.

"So, are you guys the Sailor Scouts?" Duo suddenly asked, drawing everyone back to the topic they had been discussing before Lita had broken down.

"Yes, I'm Sailor Jupiter." Lita said and the other scouts looked at her in shock. Seeing their looks, she said, he's my brother. I never used to keep anything from him and I don't plan on starting just as soon as I got him back."

"I understand, but couldn't you have told him when his friends weren't here?" Michiru said and Lita looked over at the three guys that were staring at her like she had two heads. Duo didn't say anything but hugged her tightly.

Before anyone could say anything, both Mina and Quatre sat up straight in their beds, startling everyone. "Quatre? Are you ok man?" Duo asked and the blond looked at him for a moment before saying, "Yes, Duo. But my head hurts a bit."

"Your Venus Knight powers were woken up, and with them some of you memories from the Silver Millennium." Sestuna said and Quatre nodded, mentally going through his new memories. After a moment, his face went pale and his eyes almost bugged out of his head.

"Oh my Allah." He whispered.

"What's wrong?" Mina asked as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Standing up, she walked over to him and settled next to him on the mat.

"I have a hazy memory of training one some other planet with a golden sky with a bunch of other guys. The only people I could see clearly were two guys who were cuddling on the grass. They looked like Zechs Marquee and Treize Kushrenada."

"Zechs and Treize where in your memory?!" Wufei exclaimed as he spun away from the window to stare at Quatre in shock. The other guys that had arrived with them were also in shock and the rest of the people were surprised that they seemed to know the leader of Oz and the Specials MS pilot.

"I can't believe this. Our worst enemy and you used to know him!" Duo exclaimed and suddenly, all attention was focused on him again.

"What do you mean, 'Your worst enemy', Chris?" Lita asked, her arms still firmly around her brother.

"Umm, could you just call me Duo? That's the name I'm used to." Duo asked and she reluctantly nodded.

If any one had looked over at where Trowa and Heero were or looked at either Wufei or Quatre, they would have seen four extremely nervous guys staring at the braided guy who was about to blab their secret to eleven people that they didn't know.

"And as to your question, I guess it's only fair to tell you since you told us your big secret." Duo said and Heero's eyes narrowed and he tensed though only Trowa who was next to him noticed.

"See us five are the Gundam Pilots thats been fighting against Oz. I'm the pilot to Death Scythe Hell, or as they call me, 02." Duo said with a grin and suddenly Heero sprang to his feet and pulled his gun from where he kept it in all that spandex.

"That was very stupid Duo. They could be working with Oz and you just blew or cover. Now they all have to die. Omea o koroso." 

Seeing the gun, Ranma jumped to his feet and threw himself at Heero, intending to knock the gun out of his hands. But what happened instead, Heero pulled the trigger and shot at the charging guy. Ranma dodged out of the way, but the bullet hit him in the side, throwing him off balance and into the wall right next him. 

"Ranma!" Most of the girls exclaimed while Ryoga, Duo, and Haruka charged at Heero.

"Heero what are you doing?!" Duo shouted as he reached his friend and grabbed the gun away from the boy, who was slightly shocked because he didn't expect Oz soldiers to be so concerned about one of their own when they should be more concerned about stopping the threat.

"I take out all obstacles the mission." Heero snarled as he ducked under Ryoga's wild swing which then through the wall easily.

"You don't just shoot people because they find out about you!" Duo shouted as he pushed Heero backwards against the wall, blocking everyone's swings at the same time he was getting up in his face. "Now, I'm sure that being kidnapped when you were a kid and then trained to be an assassin ands then trained to be the perfect soldier would have messed with your head enough to think that anyone who found out about you would be then enemy but here's a news flash. Not everyone is the enemy! Do you remember how we met? I shoot you twice and then I saved you, and you still treated me like an enemy for the next five months. You almost killed me fifteen times within the first month of living together. Now you are going to say sorry to everyone and then you are going to help talk care of my sister's friend that you just shot. Do you understand?" Duo snarled and Heero glared at him before giving a sharp nod. Wufei, Quatre and Trowa who had surrounded them as soon as Haruka and Ryoga had backed off were shocked to hear Duo sounding so angry. He never got that angry towards them.

But as Heero and Duo and the rest turned towards Ranma, they saw Serena kneeling above the pigtailed boy with her crystal sending healing power into him. After a moment, the light stopped and Ranma sat up, completely healed of both the gunshot and the last remains of his spinal injury.

"Serena! Are you all right? You shouldn't have finished my back after you healed it from earlier today. It took to much energy out of you." He scolded and the other scouts nodded weakly.

"I know but I had to do it while I had the excuse of your gunshot wound." She said weakly and then slumped into unconsciousness. 

"Put her on the bed. She just needs to rest for a little while." Rei said and Ranma stood up and picked up his cousin. Walking normally for the first time in over a year, he put her on the bed and covered her up. 

Turning to the shocked Gundam pilots, he stalked up to Heero and punched him across the face. While Ranma may be physically weak, his ki enforced punch sent Heero flying backwards into the wall, where he slumped down KO.

"I don't believe it. The only time some has ever knocked him out was if they hit him in the head with a gun or a brick." Duo said as he bent down to check on him.

"Yeah well, ki can be used for a lot of things like strengthening a blow." Ranma said and turned away. 

Lita approached Duo and asked, "Will you tell me what's happened to you since we were separated?"

"Ok." He said and they sat down on the floor and he began his story.

"After I woke up from the coma and was abandon on L2, I joined up with this gang that lived in the poorer section of the colony…"

***************

Flashback

***************

A little boy, recognizable as a young Duo, was sitting in the mouth of an alley, his face smudged with dirt and his clothes in tatters. "I'm so hungry." He whispered, burying his head in his arms, which rested against his upraised knees.

"Then why don't you do something about it?" a voice said from somewhere further into the alley. Jumping to his feet, the little boy spun around to see an older kid, probably around seven or eight, standing with two other kids behind him.

"What's your name kid?"

"I don't know. I can't remember it." The little boy sniffled.

"Well, my name's is Solo. Until we can get a better name for you, we'll call you Duo, ok?" Solo, the older boy said and held out a hand to the newly dubbed Duo.

"Ok. What did you mean what am I going to do about it? I don't have any money for food."

"The first rule of living on the street is that you have to get what food you can from where you can. We just picked this one guy's pocket and got enough money to get a good dinner for the whole gang tonight but some times you just have to steal to survive." Solo said and Duo nodded in understanding. Standing up, he walked over and gave the older boy a hesitant hug. "Thank you, Solo."

***************

End Flashback

***************

"By the time I was seven, I was one of the best pick pockets in the gang and was next in charge after Solo. But then, a plaque swept through the colony and while they had medicine for it, they would never waste it on street rats like us." Duo said bitterly. 

***************

Flashback

***************

"Duo, you need to break into the hospital and get the medicine for the rest of the gang." Solo said weakly as tried to sit up on his make shift bed, basically just a small tangle of thin blankets that most people wouldn't even use as cleaning rags.

"Solo, you need it too. Your just as sick as the others, if not more." Duo said as he supported his friend as the boy started coughing harshly. After Solo wiped his mouth, Duo could see a small smear of blood on the older boy's hand and lips.

"I know I'm sick, but we have to take care of the others first. You're the only one who's not sick so you have to get the stuff. If you sneak into the hospital and follow a nurse as she goes to get some for another patient, than you should be able to get the medicine. It's given be a syringe so you need to get about a dozen needles ok?" Solo said and Duo nodded. 

Solo watched silently as Duo ran towards the hospital. Pencil thin and with hair that fell down to his waist in a tangled waterfall, Duo could have passed as a five year old girl and had been almost kidnapped the year before to be a corner kid. That's what everyone called children forced to be prostitutes. 

'Good luck, Duo.' Solo thought as he started coughing again and he slumped back to his blankets. Around him were about ten other children, just as sick as he was. 'Hurry, they're counting on you.

Duo slipped into the hospital and followed a nurse as she led a boy about his age to a sick room. The nurse left after a moment and Duo silently followed her. After she left he entered the room and grabbed a couple big bottles like the one the nurse had just taken out and then grabbed a bunch of syringes. Stuffing the whole mess into his small pack, he was just closing it when the door opened and a doctor appeared in the doorway.

"Hey kid! What are you doing back here?!" the doctor shouted and lunged at Duo. Duo ducked under the man's extended arm and out the door. As he ran down the hallway, he could here the doctor shouting for some one to stop the kid and Duo ran even faster. A guard made a grab at him in succeeded in grabbing Duo's shirt but the flimsy material tore before the man could get a better grip on the struggling child. Free of the guard, Duo ran out of the hospital and was out of sight before anyone could catch up with him.

Fifteen minutes later, Duo was back with the gang, giving them the medicine. He had wanted to give Solo the medicine first, but the older kid had insisted that the younger kids be given it first. So Solo instructed Duo how to give the injections and soon all the other children had gotten the medicine. 

Turning to Solo, Duo readied the last of the medicine and injected in to the older boy. There was enough for Duo also but since he wasn't sick in the least, he had decided that it didn't really matter. 

"There, now you'll be better in no time." Duo said brightly but the next day, Solo wasn't better, he was worse. Some of the other children were already showing signs of improvement, but for Solo and a few others, it was to late. By the next evening, Duo held him in his arms as he took his last breaths. The others that hadn't improved, were already dead.

"Duo, I want you to take care of what's left of the gang. You are the best person to watch after them and remember, I'll always be here with you." Solo gasped and was still, his final breath drifting off into the cool night air.

Sniffing back his tears, Duo put his friend on the ground and turned to the few remaining gang members. "Let's get going." He said and led them away from the remains of their friends.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"After that, we survived for another year until we were caught stealing and sent to the Maxwell Church. All the others were adopted but every time, I was sent back. I lost track of the number of times that I was adopted after thirty. After a while no one bothered to even look at me." Duo said unemotionally and the others looked at him in shock.

After a moment of silence, he continued his story. "I stayed there till I was eleven. It was just after new years when a group of rebels took Father Maxwell and Sister Helen hostage. They were the priest and the nun that took care of me and the other war orphans they took in. Anyway, I made a deal with them that if I could get a mobile suit for them, they would let them go. I managed to get one for them, but by the time I got back, the Alliance had already destroyed the church to get the rebels…"

***************

Flashback

***************

Duo stood in the ruins of the Maxwell Church, blankly starring around at the smoldering remains and the bodies of the people he had loved and the people who had taken over the church.

Spotting Sister Helen's form laying not to far away, he ran over to her and gently picked her head up and slid her head under it for a pillow. Her headpiece was missing and he blond hair spread out around her face in dirty waves. A small trail of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth as she weakly looked up. 

"Duo…I'm so glad you're safe. Father…Maxwell was so proud of you till the end. God will watch over you now that we…can not." She gasped and Duo shook his head.

"There is no God. Only Shinigami."

"Oh, Duo…" she said and trailed of into a sigh as her last breath left her and she left for heaven and her God.

Duo was still holding her an hour later when rescue crews finally came to pick through the remains. Dragging him away, they began putting the bodies into bags. He went with them, to numb from shock to do more than to stare at the bag that they put Sister Helen in.

They took him into Alliance's custody, calling him Maxwell's Demon the entire time.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"I escaped from there a few days later and stowed away on a sweeper's ship. That was how I met Professor G and Howard. It was their ship. That was when I began the training to be a Gundam pilot and where I first took the names Duo Maxwell in honor of the Maxwell Church Massacre and the name Shinigami." Duo finished and looked up at his sister.

He had been looking at the ground for most of the story, which had taken a couple hours. He didn't want to look at his sister's face and see the disgust about what he was and what he had done. Now looking at her face, he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?!" he asked as a few slipped down her cheeks.

"You had some many hard things happen to you and yet you're still so happy." She said and wrapped her arms around the shocked teenage boy.

"Well, I guess. You probably had a pretty hard life too, living alone or with the aunt and you seem so happy." He said and she shook her head. 

"My life was nothing compare to yours. The only hard part besides living on my own, which wasn't so bad, was fighting monsters since I was fourteen." She said as she leaned back and wiped the tears from her face.

Suddenly, from behind them, Haruka asked quietly, "What does Shinigami mean?"

Hotaru answered before Duo could, saying, "God of Death. It means God of Death."

"You call yourself the God of Death?!" Serena exclaimed.

"Yes." Duo said and left it at that. 

Haruka turned to Hotaru and asked, "How did you know what it meant?"

"I am the scout of Death and Rebirth. Everything concerning death, I know." She said and turned back towards Duo.(By the way, if that isn't here title, someone tell me and I'll correct this.) Something was bothering her, a half forgotten memory that was nagging her. Still looking at Duo she asked Sestuna quietly, he was a scout back in the Silver Millennium, wasn't he? From Saturn, right?"

Sestuna turned to her charge in surprise before saying softly, "Yes, he was. He was the Saturn Knight, also called Shinigami."

In Nerima, Ukyo was just closing her shop as Kasumi stepped into the restaurant. "Hi Kasumi. What can I do for you?" she asked warmly.

"Hello Ukyo. I just stopped by for a moment to ask you a question." Kasumi said as she sat down at the bar.

"Sure. What would you like to know?" Ukyo asked as she began to clean the grill.

"Why did you break off your engagement to Ranma?"

"What?! I never broke off my engagement to Ran-chan. Where did you get that idea?" Ukyo asked, shocked at the question from the oldest Tendo girl.

"Ranma told me on one of my many visits that you said it was just to painful for you to see him like that so you were left him." Kasumi said and Ukyo looked at her in shock.

"I meant that it was to hard to see him in the hospital like that so I was going on a training journey for a while and then I was going to avoid the hospital until he got out!" Ukyo exclaimed and Kasumi looked at her almost grimly for a moment before sighing. 

"He believes that you, just like everyone else, like the rest of my family, abandon him. Right now, he is living with is aunt and uncle in Tokyo, the Jubaa district. (Someone please get me the correct spelling of that. Thanks.)

"Well, I'll just have to go explain things to him. Oh and Kasumi, can you tell how he is?" Ukyo asked and Kasumi nodded.

"He is 60% paralyzed from the waist down and is very bitter at the moment. He left yesterday with his Aunt Irene and her family. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there when he left." Kasumi said with another sigh as she stood up.

"Thank you for explaining this to me, but I really must be going. I still have to cook dinner. Good-by Ukyo." Kasumi said and left the resurant.

"Bye Kasumi and thanks for telling me what happened to Ranma." Ukyo said and waved as the other girl closed the door behind her. As she finished cleaning the grill, she came to a decision. "Tomorrow, I'm going to the Tendo Dojo and get the address from Kasumi. Then I'm going to get my Ran-chan."

Thanks for reading this and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. And what do you think of the new name?

Shinigami-chan


	5. Arrival of Mars and Saturn Knights

Ranma ½: New Friends

Ranma ½: New Friends

Arrival of Mars and Saturn Knights

***************

Chapter 5

***************

"Sestuna-mama, is there a way for us to awaken his memories with having to put the both of us in danger?" Hotaru asked Sestuna quietly while the others were talking to Duo about his life story.

"The Scout of a planet can make them remember their memories from the Silver Millennium, but it is very tiring and dangerous. If you get the wrong person and try to call past life memories, it can drive them insane." Sestuna said just as quietly.

"But you already said that he was Saturn Knight." Hotaru said, perhaps a little louder then she had meant to because now all talking had ceased and everyone was no starring at the two outer scouts.

"Who is Saturn Knight?" Duo and Serena asked at the same time.

"Um…" Hotaru started and stopped to look at Sestuna for permission to explain. At the woman's nod, the girl turned back to the others. "Duo is. I have this vague memory of him and Sestuna-mama just confirmed it."

"No way! I'm a knight just like Quatre is?!" Duo exclaimed and jumped to his feet in excitement. 

Slightly startled by his abrupt movement, Hotaru flinched back, a fact that wasn't lost on a few people in the room, and nodded slowly.

"Are you ok? You looked like I was going to go after you or something." Duo said in his straightforward manner. The other Gundam pilots were also wondering and leaned in a little to hear the girls reply.

"For most of my like I was viewed as a freak because I can heal people and was always getting teased and picked on." Hotaru said and stared down at the floor.

"You can heal things? That's so cool! I wish I could do something like that." Duo said and drifted off into his mind for a moment with a happy little grin on his face as he imagined himself healing people.

"No you don't. Then you would be considered a freak too. You would always be made fun of and people would avoid you. You wouldn't have any friends and you would be always alone." Hotaru quietly and Sestuna wrapped an arm around the small girl's shoulders.

"Hotaru, ever since I was a kid, people made fun of and avoided me because I was a street rat. I only had three people I was friends with the entire time I lived up there which was most of my life. That was Solo, Sister Helen and Father Maxwell. Even when they were there, I was always alone. But if I had had your powers of healing, maybe I could have saved them." Duo said just as quietly as he approached her and wrapped his own arms around her.

Hotaru didn't say anything, but burrowed into his and Sestuna's embrace.

Quatre spoke up from behind the small group after a moment. "You must have had a very hard life, but you're always so happy. Why?"

Duo just shrugged in answer, not wanting to tell everyone that the laughing Duo that they thought they knew was actually just a mask that he wore. He was actually a grim young man that had been surrounded by death most of his life. Now, while he enjoyed his friends and was genuinely happy to find his family, he was still slightly grim.

"So, can you, like, wake up my powers?" Duo said in an effort to change the subject, which succeeded, though Quatre threw him a faint frown.

"Yes, it is possible to do it but it is both dangerous and tiring." Sestuna said and Hotaru nodded. "Now, I know that Duo is Saturn Knight and it think I know who is Mars Knight and I'm fairly certain about Pluto Knight. But while the rest of you guys look like the Knights of the other planets, you are also different. I will have to meditate and study each of you to see if you are the Knights." Sestuna said and Rei looked at her curiously.

"Sestuna, I have two questions." She said and when the green haired woman looked at her. "The first one is, if Quatre saw Zechs Marquee and Treize Kushrenada in one of his memories of the Silver Millennium, what are we going to do? They're the enemies of the guys." She said and Duo and Quatre nodded.

"I will study them and I suggest that you meditate on them as well." Sestuna said and Rei nodded in understanding. "And what is you second question Rei?"

"Who is my Knight?"

"Your Knight has not changed that much since his last life. Back then, he was honor bound to protect you and he took his honor very seriously. But he thought that all women were weak and had been very indignant when he found out that he had too." She said and Duo started laughing.

"That sounds like Wufei."

"That's because it is Wufei."

"What?!" Wufei yelped and Sestuna hushed him with a look.

"You see, just like with the Sailor Senshi, which was passed from mother to daughter, the Knight's mantel was passed from father to son. His father was the protector to the Queen of Mars, though they each married other people. In the Silver Millennium, the Knights rarely married their charges. But all of last group of Knights fell in love with the Senshi. Anyway, when Wufei found out that he had to protect the Queen's daughter, they got into a huge fight…"

***************

Flashback

***************

"Wufei, it is time you took over your duties." Wugan, Wufei's father said as he entered his son's room where Wufei was reading a book.

"What do you mean, Father? I don't have any duties that I don't do." Wufei said as he removed his glasses and stood up, putting his glasses and his book on the table next to his chair.

"You will be taking over your duties to protect the Princess Rei. It is your duty as my oldest, and only surviving son as it was for me and the Queen, who was only a princess back then." Wugan said and Wufei shook his head.

"You want me to watch over a spoiled princess? Forget it. I'm not going to waste my time with a weak woman!" he shouted and Wugan abruptly went red in the face. 

"Are you calling the Princess and the Queen weak?!"

"Yes! It's a proven fact that all women are weak." Wufei snarled.

"If that's the case than I suppose that you think your mother was weak while she was alive?" Wugan snarled right back, his face an inch from his son's.

Wufei gave a hard nodded before he could think about it and immediately regretted it as Wugan's face went purple in rage. For a few minutes the only sound in the room was Wugan's furious breathing as he sought to control his anger before he lashed out at Wufei. 

Finally, he said coldly, you will report to the Palace tomorrow morning where the Queen or the Princess will give you your transformation object and your new weapon that comes with this position. Do not refuse to do this or you will bring dishonor down on this family and most certainly on your self." Wugan said, then turned around and stalked from the room.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"The next day, Wufei presented himself to the Princess and the Queen…"

***************

Flashback

***************

"Presenting Chang Wufei of the Dragon Clan." A guard announced as Wufei was shown into the throne room. He walked up to the throne and bowed before the Queen and her daughter, who were sitting on the raised dais. 

The Queen was a beautiful woman, tall with long black hair that reached her ankles and violet eyes. She was wearing a scarlet, sleeveless dress that was tight in the bodice but fell in shimmering, loose folds to the floor.

Her daughter looked like a younger version of the Queen with the same long black hair, though it only reached her knees, and the same bright violet eyes. She was dressed in white doji that had a picture of a flame on the back and on the upper right side.

"Welcome, Mr. Chang. I assume you are here to take your place as my daughter's protector?" the Queen said and Wufei gave a single sharp nod. "Wonderful. I was just about to give my daughter her wand too."

Wufei didn't understand what she meant so he only raised an eyebrow briefly before regaining an expressionless, aloof look on his face. 

"Wufei this is you transformation disk. You don't have to say anything to trigger it. Just focus on being Mars Knight and it will take care of everything." The Queen said as she approached and handed him a red disk about the size of his palm, that has a picture of a flame in the center.

Then turning to her daughter, the Queen held out a red pen that had the symbol of Mars on the top that had a gold circle around it. "This is you transformation wand, Rei. Say, Mars Power, and it will transform you into Sailor Mars. I have a much more advanced version that you will inherit some day." She said and Rei nodded as she accepted her wand.

Stepping back the Queen asked them to transform and they both began their transformations. Rei shouted "Mars Power!" and was instantly surrounded by rings of fire as her clothes disappeared. The fire disappeared to reveal a sailor fuku with a red skirt and collar with purple bows in the front and back. The front bow had a red disk in the center. White gloves reached her elbows with red material at the top appeared on her arms wile red high heels, a red choker and red earrings in the shape of stars appeared in her ears. The last thing to appear was a gold tiara with a red jewel in the center that formed on her forehead.

Wufei missed the Princesses transformation as he was involved with his own. His white outfit disappeared and fire formed around him, molding it's self into a gray uniform (like the nega-verse generals). A red cape was thrown over his shoulders and a red mask appeared over his eyes. An empty scabbard appeared on his back before the fire completely disappeared and Mars Knight opened his eyes.

Turning to the Princess, Wufei was shocked to find her in an extremely short skirt that showed her long legs off. "Urk!" he exclaimed as blood exploded from his nose and he fainted.

The queen and the princess turned at his exclamation and saw him slum to the floor as blood still flowed out of his nose. "Um, I guess he is still a little shy." The Queen said as she shoved some tissues up his nose and motioned for a guard to pick him up and put him on a lounger that was near by.

When Wufei woke up, he found his head in the lap of the princess who was gentle bathing his face with a wet rag. Looking up he got a great view of her breasts in the body hugging sailor scout uniform. He clamped a hand to his nose and jumped to his feet almost running into the queen who stood right next to the lounger. 

"I see that you're awake now." The queen said with gentle humor. She stepped away as he daughter stood up and Wufei careful avoided looking anywhere except at her face. "Let us continue. Wufei, this is you weapon, the fire blade. This katana is made out of a special metal alloy that is almost indestructible but light and you will be able to do some of your attacks with it like Mars fire Sword attack where the sword seems to catch on fire and you throw the fire at the enemy, and the energy wave, which is where you slash it at your enemy and a crescent shaped red energy is launched from the tip." The Queen said as she handed the stunned young man a katana, whose sheath was already on his back. It was a beautiful weapon; the blade razor sharp and shined with a faint silver and red shine, and the hilt was wrapped in black leather with the red symbol for Mars on the pommel. 

Taking it, the Mars Knight slipped it into its sheath, and then bowed to the Queen and the Princess. "Thank you for this honor. I will protect Sailor Mars with me life." He said grimly and they nodded in return.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"After that, Wufei and Rei trained together when they were on Mars and when they got together with the other Scouts and Knights, they trained with them, all the scouts together and all the Knights together." Sestuna finished and Quatre nodded.

"Yes, I remember that vaguely." He said and Mina wrapped her arms around the blond boy, causing him to blush and the others to laugh. Well, most of the others. Wufei, Trowa and Heero only smiled in their minds, behind their blank masks.

"What about Duo's past life?" Ranma asked after the laughter had died down.

Feeling Duo tense up at the question, Hotaru spoke up before Sestuna did. "Why don't we just give Duo and Wufei back their memories now instead of having Sestuna tell us all his memories. That way, Duo can tell us instead." She said and gave the time gate guardian a pointed look.

"Sure. We can do that." Sestuna said and Duo relaxed a little bit and sent a small smile at Hotaru who blushed faintly.

"Rei, Hotaru, you need to put your hands on your knight's temples and concentrate on the Silver Millennium and on your Knights of that time period. Now that one has reawakened, your memories should start coming back of them." Sestuna said and the two girls did as she told them. Rei and Wufei started to glow a bright red while Duo and Hotaru started glowing a deep purple. After about a minute of absolute silence, both Duo's and Wufei's eyes flew wide open in shock and pain. 

Suddenly, Wufei gasped in pain and slumped to the ground, panting for breath. At the same time, Duo grabbed his head and screamed, shocking the others. It just kept going and going until finally his voice broke and he fainted. As he fell, Hotaru grabbed him and cradled him in her lap. "Duo?! Duo, are you all right?! Answer me, please!" she said tearfully.

_"What did you do to him?!" _Lita shouted as she rushed up to he new found brother and the girl holding him. She scooped Duo into her arms and backed away from Hotaru. When she was on the opposite side of the room with Ranma and Ryoga between them, she put him down and started fussing over him.

Hotaru jumped to her feet and ran out of the room in tears, passing a shocked Grandpa and Chad in the doorway. They had come running when they had heard the screams and had watched Duo collapse and Lita accuse Hotaru. Now as the little girl ran past them, both men came to their senses. Grandpa hurried into the room to see if he could help while Chad went after Hotaru.

In the room, everyone was frozen in shock. Finally, Quatre and the other pilots rushed over to Duo and Wufei who was still on the ground, after a moment the other inners joined them. The three outers stood together on the other side of the room, staring at Lita in shock and Ranma and Ryoga slipped out unnoticed to look for Hotaru.

After a few minutes, Haruka, who had been trying to hold her anger in, finally lost her internal battle and her rage got the better of her. She lunged towards the scout of Jupiter but was held back by Sestuna and Michiru. 

"How dare you say that to Hotaru, bitch!" she screamed and silence descended over the room as everyone stopped what they were doing to look over at Haruka who was still struggling to get away from the two holding her back from attacking the tall brown haired girl.

"What?" Lita said looking at the tall woman in confusion before going back to trying to wake Duo up.

"How dare you do that to Hotaru. She was trying to help him and what do you do? You accused her of hurting Duo!" Michiru said as Haruka growled at Lita. 

Sestuna pulled both of the others out of the room in silence, but when she got to the door she said quietly, "If you had just remembered what he had remembered, you would have screamed too." That said, she disappeared through the door, leaving a stunned group behind, excluding Grandpa who hadn't paid them any attention as he tried to wake Duo up.

Hotaru stopped running when she had reached the trees that surrounded the temple. She would have run further but she was still in poor shape and couldn't run that far still. As she sank down to the grass, she let the tears fall from her purple eyes. She was crying so hard that she didn't hear Ranma and Ryoga as they came up behind her until Ranma spoke up.

"It wasn't your fault, Hotaru."

She spun around to stare at him as he knelt next to her on the grass with Ryoga standing just behind him. "Yes it was. I'm a freak, I always hurt people. No matter what I do, I hurt everyone around me!" she said and started sobbing even harder. 

Ranma watched for a moment before he pulled her into his arms and started to rock back and forth gently. He felt her stiffen for a moment before she relaxed against him and wrapped her arms around him as she cried on his shoulder. "You're not a freak and you don't hurt everyone around you, but I am and I do." He said after a moment and then felt her shake her head in denial of both statements.

"Yes, I am and no you're not. You may not be able to control everything around you so that people don't get hurt, but if you did hurt everyone around you, those three people you live with would have left you a long time ago and they're still there. But I'm a sex-changing freak who ruins everyone's life. Take Ryoga here for example. I continually beat him out of the last bread of the day and we were always fighting and it's my fault that he got cursed. I kicked him into the spring of drowned black piglet at Jusenko so it's my fault when ever some one thinks he's a real pig and tries to cook him." Ranma said and Hotaru looked at him in shock then turned her gaze towards Ryoga.

"It's not your fault. If I hadn't chased you for years to get back at you for not being there for our duel, even though it was my fault I was four days late for it, I never would have gotten into your way when you were chasing Genma and got knocked into that spring. And you can't be there to save me whenever someone tries to make me into sweet and sour pork and eat me. It's not like you made them do that. And neither of you are freaks. You can't help the fact that your curse turns you into a girl, Ranma, and you can't help being different than other people, Hotaru." He said looking at both of them.

"He's right." Sestuna said as she stepped forward. Ranma and Ryoga had been aware of the three women since they had walked up behind the lost boy while Ranma had been comforting Hotaru. "No one can help how they are and you didn't hurt Duo. He had a very bad life during the Silver Millennium and then having it shoved into his head was just too much for him. It was best that it happened like this though because if we had waited for both of you to be in danger, than it would have left both of you very vulnerable." She said and Haruka and Michiru nodded from where they stood behind the time scout.

"Fine, I don't hurt everyone around me but I can't help them either. In human form, I'm to weak and my scout powers are to strong and I runthe risk of destroying the world." Hotaru said bitterly as she stood up and walked away from the group.

"I have a great idea. You want to be strong enough to help others, but you are weak in body, right?" Ranma said and the girl nodded without turning around. "Well, at the moment, I'm just as weak, if not weaker than you and Ryoga is going to help me get back in shape so why don't you join us? We'll both get stronger together."

After he finished speaking, she whirled around to stare at him in shock. Seeing his, Ryoga's, and the other scouts' gins, she let her face break out into a small smile as she nodded and hugged him and Ryoga before she headed over to her guardians who all hugged her tightly before turning back to the two boys. 

"Thank you. Where and when would you like to start?" Sestuna said, her arms still around Hotaru.

"How about tomorrow in the park near the lake at noon?" Ranma said and the others nodded before they exchanged goodbyes and left, the outer scouts towards their car, Ranma and Ryoga back to the room where the others were.

Duo opened his eyes to see his sister looking down at him worriedly. 

"Duo, are you all right?" Lita asked him as he sat up.

"My head hurts."

"That is all Hotaru's fault." Lita said as she watched him worriedly.

"What! How can my having a headache be her fault? I just regained a bunch of memories of a past life that was extremely bad. I'm grateful that I got them back this way. Can you image what would have happened if I had got them back in a battle? I would have been killed when I was distracted." Duo said grimly as he stood up and started looking around. Grandpa had left a minute ago to answer the telephone and Duo noticed that the four outer scouts plus Ranma and Ryoga were missing.

"Let me guess, you blamed Hotaru-chan and she and the others left?" Duo said as he looked down at his sister who looked at her hands as she nodded. Without a word, he dashed out of the room and across the courtyard, where he almost ran Ranma and Ryoga over. They pointed where the others had headed and he dashed off in that direction, yelling a thank you over his shoulder.

He caught up with the others just as they reached their car that was parked at the bottom of the steps. "Hotaru wait." he called and the girl turned around.

Hotaru didn't say anything as he stopped in front of her and quickly caught his breath. As soon as he had his breathing under control, he stood up straight, pulled her against his body and kissed her as deeply as he could.

Sestuna and Michiru were motionless in their shock while Haruka timed the couple. After they broke apart, gasping for breath, she said, "I was wondering if you two would ever come up for air."

Hotaru blushed at the comment while Duo ignored it to lean down close to Hotaru's ear and whisper, "I promised that the first thing I did when we were reawakened would be a welcome back kiss, remember?" His words brought a forgotten memory forward in Hotaru's mind of when he had first promised it…

***************

Flashback

***************

"Duo?! Duo, where are you?!" Sailor Saturn screamed as she raced across the battlefield that had once been the Moon Kingdom. The battle against Beryl was almost over and all the other scouts and knights besides were dead or almost dead.

Sailor Saturn had gotten to the fight at the very end and she knew that everything was going to end soon. Now, she raced across the ground in a desperate attempt to find her true love, Saturn Knight, or Duo when he wasn't busy being her protector.

"Ho…ta…ru.." It was just a faint croaking sound that she almost missed as she dashed past a groove of trees. Turning, she saw the edge of a black cape trailing from behind a tree.. with a sinking feeling n her heart, she circled the tree and found Saturn Knight propped up against the truck of the tree with a sword sticking out of his chest. By some miracle, it had missed his heart but had punctured a lung and he was slowly dieing as his blood pooled on the ground beneath him.

"Ho…ta…ru…" he whispered again as he caught sight of her as she dropped to her knees next to him. "I'm…sorry, but…I don't think…I'll be able to…take you…to the dance …tonight…" he said with a weak grin up at her.

"You can't die on me!" she sobbed as she pulled the sword out of his chest and started trying to heal him. It was soon apparent though that it was a loosing battle. She had used up most of her power as she had raced to get to the moon in time to help and now, she didn't have enough to heal him.

"I sorry…Hotaru-chan. I…want to kiss you…goodbye, but my mouth…seems to be filled…with blood." He had to stop for a moment to cough up more blood before he could continue to talk and when he did, his voice was weaker than it had been before. "You know…it's ironic. Death has…taken so much from…me and now it finally…comes to take me too. I promise…as soon as we are reborn…and we regain…our memories…again, I will…give you the biggest…most take your breath…away, welcome kiss…that anyone has…ever seen. Remember, I…love…you…" he trailed off as his last breath left his body.

"I love you too, but why did you have to die?!" she screamed as she cradled her dead love against her chest. She was still crying a few minutes later when a soldier for the Nega-verse snuck up behind her and stuck a sword through her back. The point pierced her heart and she died a moment later.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"I remember, Duo-chan, and I am never going to let you go again without a goodbye kiss ever again, no matter what is going on." Hotaru said as she kissed him, surprising all present, including the group at the top of the stairs who was watching them.

"Our little girls all grown up, now." Michiru sniffed as she watched them. Sestuna and Haruka nodded after a moment. They waited for several moments before Duo and Hotaru separated before Sestuna said in her calm way, "Hotaru, we need to go home. It's getting late and the two of you are exhausted, aren't you."

"Yes Sestuna-mama. Duo, meet me in the park tomorrow at noon, ok?" Hotaru said and Duo nodded before he kissed her quickly then gently pushed her into the car.

"See you tomorrow, Firefly." He said and then the car pulled away, leaving him alone on the curb. Looking up at the top of the temple steps, he saw the group of people standing there and knew that it was going to be a long night.


	6. Arrival of Jupiter, Mercury, and Pluto K...

Ranma ½: New Friends

Ranma ½: New Friends

Arrival of Jupiter, Mercury, and Pluto Knights

***************

Chapter 6

***************

There was complete silence once Duo finished the climb of the temple steps. Duo stared at his friends and family, and they just stared right back until finally, Heero said in a monotone, "What the hell just happened Duo?"

"Well, you see Heero, I remembered a promise to Hotaru that I made as I was dieing on the Moon Kingdom. It was during the final battle against Beryl and I had a sword through my chest." He started but was interrupted before her could get any further by Lita who screamed, "What?!"

"Calm down, Sis. I bet you didn't die peacefully there now did you?" Duo asked and she reluctantly shook her head as memories of being ripped apart by a yoma filled her mind. "Anyway, I had a sword through my chest but it had only hit my lung so I was able to survive long enough for her to find me. She tried to heal the wound but she was too weak from trying to get there fast enough to help fight. So I ended up dead, but before I promised her I would give her a huge, breath stealing welcome kiss as soon as we were both awakened again." Duo said and the other pilots just stared at him in shock. They couldn't believe that Duo would keep a promise for over a thousand years. 

The scouts were to busy gushing on how "they wished that they had some one who would do that for them," and Ranma and Ryoga had already lost interest and had gone a few feet away to spar gently. Well all the scouts were gushing except Mina who was quietly sneaking up on Quatre. Heero, Wufei and Duo, who were facing the blonde pilot, saw her coming, but for reasons of their own, didn't do anything except watch what was going to happen. 

As soon as Mina was behind Quatre, she put a hand on his shoulder, spun him around and kissed him as deeply as she could. Poor Quatre was so startled that he almost fainted. After a moment, he got over his surprise and started kissing Mina back. They were about the same height so it was a good match and when they finally stopped, everyone one could see a blissful smile on Mina's face and a self-assured, smug smile on Quatre's.

"And what was all of that about, Q-man?" Duo teased his friend who blushed faintly with Mina doing the same after a moment.

"Well, you see Duo, on the day of the attack on the Moon Kingdom, Mina and I had gotten engaged." Quatre said and that was as far as he got as everyone, excluding Heero, Wufei, and Trowa, screamed "You did what?!"

"Got engaged. It was to be announced at the party that night but as you know, Beryl attacked." Mina said as she cuddled up to Quatre.

"Well, it's starting to get late. I think we should all go home for now and meet back here tomorrow." Ranma said into the silence that followed and the others nodded.

"But what about Duo and Lita?" Serena asked quietly as the pilots turned to leave.

"I need to be near my Gundam in case of an emergency, but you can sleep over tonight. There are plenty of rooms. Right Quatre?" Duo said as he turned to the blond, only to find that he was busy kissing the other blond again. "Quatre, hey Q-man! Are you listening?" Duo asked as he knocked on the top of Quatre's head.

"What? Oh, sure she can sleep over tonight. She can use one of my sister's rooms." Quatre said before turning back to Mina.

"Lita, before you go, do you think you can wake up my memories?" Ranma asked Lita as she started to walk away.

"Sure. But lets go inside to do this." She said as she led him in to the temple with others following. As soon as they were settled in Rei's room again, Lita copied what Rei and Hotaru had done earlier. Within a minute, there were both surrounded by a deep green aura that flickered as the others watched. Finally, about ten minutes later, Ranma dropped to the ground unconscious and Lita slumped over a little.

"Are you two all right?" Serena asked her friend as she went over to help her sit up. 

"Yes. It just took me by surprise how tired I would feel." She said as she shook her head and stood up. "You should call you family to come pick you up since it's 8:30 now, and you need to see if Ranma's friend Ryoga can stay over as well." She said and Serena nodded before going to ask Rei if she could use her phone.

Everyone waited in silence for Ranma to wake up and for Serena to get back and both things happened at about the same time. Just as Ranma was sitting up, Serena came back into the room with a big smile on her face. "Dad will be here in about ten minutes and it's ok for Ryoga to stay with us for a while too." She said as she helped Ranma stand up and led him over to his wheel chair so he could sit down.

"That's great." Ranma said with a tired look on his face.

"Are you all right?" Serena asked worriedly and he nodded.

"It's just been a long day. I really need to get back in shape." He added and Ryoga nodded from his place against the wall.

"You are at about 1/80 of your overall fitness from just before your accident. You were stronger back when we first met." Ryoga said and Ranma sighed. 

"I know, but it's not like I became this way on purpose." He said irritably.

"I know."

Sighing, Ranma then turned to Lita, who was watching him. "Lita, if you are about as strong as you were in the Silver Millennium, then you should train with us too. It's at twelve in the park, near the lake."

"Ok. I just wish that I had more memories of you. Right not, I only have about three or four." She said quietly.

"You didn't get a full down load. When you get you powers in battle, your memories come back slower. But if you are awakened by your partner, you get almost all of them." Luna said from under the bed.

She and Artemis had been there most of the time but they couldn't reveal themselves because of Ranma. But with Ranma on the opposite side of the room, Luna thought that she could talk to them without coming out.

"Who said that?" Duo asked as he jumped off the bed.

"That was Luna and if I'm not mistaken, then Artemis is under there too." Mina said from where she was sitting in Quatre's lap.

"The Royal advisers? Cool!" Duo exclaimed as he reached under the bed and grabbed the two surprised cats. As soon as they were out, they tried to run back under the bed but it was to late. Duo had a good hold of them and there was no one between Ranma and Duo.

"C…c…cats!!!" Ranma screamed as he tried to scramble away.All he succeeded doing, though, was over turning the chair and wedging him self in a corner. Everyone turned at his scream and was shocked to see Ranma cowering in a corned with his hands over his head. "Keep em' away! Keep em' away!" Ranma cried and suddenly Serena remembered her cousin's fear of cats.

"Duo! You have to get the cats out of here!" she screamed at the startled Duo.

"Why?" he asked as he looked back towards Ranma who had stopped yelling and had gone completely stiff.

"If you don't get the cats out of here right now then Ranma is…" she trailed off as Ranma suddenly let out a loud meow. Everyone turned to look at him while Serena gave off a choked, "Oh no…"

"Everyone, stay completely still." Ryoga said harshly as he took a small step forward, gaining Ranma-neko's attention, who growled at him menacingly.

Luna and Artemis had used this sudden stillness of Duo to slip out of his arms and out the window. Heero used the same stillness of the room to whip out his gun and point it at Ranma-neko who now turned from Ryoga to the new threat.

"NO!" Ami yelled as Ranma-neko jumped for Heero. Surprising everyone, including herself, she jumped in front of Heero, just as Ranma slashed with his ki claws.

"Ami!" Everyone yelled as she slumped down into the shocked Heero's arms. She had four large gashes across her chest and it looked like they were deep. With his arms around Ami, Heero couldn't bring his gun up in enough time or dodge to avoid Ranma's next attack. Just as the ki claws were about to land on them, a deep blue glow surrounded the pair. The light threw Ranma-neko away from them with enough force that he slammed into the far wall.

As the glow faded, it revealed Heero in a knight uniform like Quatre's, except he had a dark blue cape with a light blue mask. Just as fast as the uniform appeared, it disappeared, leaving Heero back in his green tank top and jeans. He slumped forward briefly before he stood up and walked quickly over to the bed. As he laid Ami down, everyone noticed the gashes were somehow gone, leaving only the tears in her shirt. All the guys politely turned their backs until Heero covered her modestly with a blanket.

Ryoga and Serena, meanwhile, were trying to wake Ranma up. "Ranma, can you hear me? Ranma?" she said as she gently patted his cheek.

"I know just the way to get him up." Ryoga said as he leaned down and said loudly in Ranma's ear, "Ranma, if you don't wake up right now, you are going it have to eat Akane's cooking for dinner."

"Keep it away!" Ranma screamed as he jumped up off the floor. When everyone turned to look at him, he blushed and mumbled something about toxic waist for food. As he looked around, he saw Ami on the bed and rushed over as fast as he could. "Oh my god! What happened to her?" 

"You did." Heero said coldly as he whipped out his gun and leveled it at Ranma's forehead.

"Huh?!"

"You used the Neko-ken, Ranma." Ryoga said and Ranma's face went white and he abruptly collapsed on the floor.

"No, not again…" he whispered as he buried his head in his arms.

"What? What happened?" Serena asked as she dropped to the floor next to her cousin and wrapped her arms around him.

"A year after I was trained in the Neko-ken, just after my seventh birthday, we came to this village. They had a lot of cats around and the Neko-ken took over. When I woke up, three people had horrible slashes on their chest and faces. They almost died and it was all my fault! Now the same thing is happening again, this time to Ami."

Everything was silent for a moment as they stared in horror at the huddled figure on the floor. Finally, Serena found her voice. "It was not your fault Ranma. You can't control the Neko-ken and if it was anyone's fault, it was Uncle Genma's because he was the one that threw you into that pit of starving cats!"

"What! You dad threw you into a pit of starving cats?!" Duo exclaimed, looking pale himself. "Man, sorry I pulled the c…um Luna and Artemis out from under the bed." He apologized and Ranma nodded in acknowledgement. After a moment, Duo spoke up again. "Can you explain what exactly the Neko-ken is?"

"I'll explain since I've seen it happen a lot." Ryoga said quietly. "The Neko-ken is a martial art's technique that will give the fighter increased speed, strength, plus you can shred cement and steel with their bare fingers or the ki claws. But because of the training, if the trainee doesn't go permanently feral, then they can only use the technique when their fear of cats get to a certain point where they go insane and start acting like a cat. But usually, if they are knocked out or they go to sleep, or a big enough shock, like if he gets turned into a girl, happens, then he will snap back to being Ranma. But he can't remember what happens when he goes cat."

"Ranma, I don't blame you. You shouldn't blame yourself." Ami said as she sat up in the bed, surprising most of the people in the room. Holding the blanket over herself to preserve her modesty, she turned a brilliant smile on Ranma before turning to Rei. "Rei, can I please borrow some clothes. I can't go home with my clothes slashed and blood stained."

"Sure. I just finished something you guys, anyway. Since all of you said you liked the temple robes, I made each of you one in your colors for when ever you come over to help. I guess you can use yours now, Ami." Rei said as she went over to her closet an pulled out a large pile of clothes. Going to the bed, she dropped them in a heap at the foot of the bed before she started sorting through the clothes. Quickly she pulled out a dark blue pair of skirt/pants and a light blue wrap top shirt. On the back was the symbol of Mercury embroidered in dark blue thread.

After handing the clothes to Ami, she shooed the men out of the room and started passing out the other outfits to the other girls. For Mina it was orange bottoms with a yellow top with an orange symbol for Venus. Lita got dark green with a light green top with a dark green Jupiter symbol on the back. And Serena got a pink and white version of Rei's priestess robes with a gold moon on the back. "I also made some for the outers and Rini in their colors. Well, Rini's is just like Serena's." Rei said as she gestured to the others in the closet.

"Why didn't you put the symbol of Mars on the back of yours?" Serena asked.

"Because these are priestess robes. I can't go changing them. Grandpa would kill me." Rei said with a sigh.

Not wanting Ami to feel weird being the only one in her new outfit, the others also changed in to theirs. Three minutes after then guys had left the room, the girls left it too wearing their new robes. Serena was pushing the wheelchair with her so that Ranma could sit down before her dad got there, which was a good thing because just as Ranma sat in the chair, Serena's dad arrived at the top of the stairs.

"Are you three ready to go?" Ken called as he hurried up to the group.

"Yes. Daddy, don't I look great?" Serena said happily as she twirled around to show her dad her new clothes.

"Sure you do honey. And so do all you other girls too." He said with a smile at the group of girls. Turning back to Ranma he said, "Well, how are we going to get you to the bottom with the chair?"

"The same way we got him up here. I'll carry him if you and Serena will carry the chair." Ryoga said as he stepped forward.

"Are you Ryoga?" Ken asked and Ryoga nodded before he bent down and swung Ranma onto his back. After saying goodbye to everyone, the trio turned and left the shrine with Ryoga carrying Ranma and his pack and Serena and her father dragging the wheelchair between them.

After they were gone, Duo turned to his sister and asked, "Why does Ranma have the wheelchair? He seems to be perfectly fine. A little weak maybe but fine nonetheless."

"Well you see…" Lita quickly filled the pilots in about what had happened to Ranma and at the end, all five of them were shocked.

"Wow, that's…wow." Duo said. For once, he couldn't find the words that he needed to describe what he was feeling at the moment.

"Yeah. I know. Now, we should get going before it gets to late." Lita said as she grabbed her clothes and headed towards the steps after exchanging goodbyes with the others. 

As soon as Lita and the Gundam pilots were gone, Rei turned to Ami and Mina, the only ones left. "You two can stay here tonight because it's so late or you can use my phone to call for a ride."

"Thank you, Rei. I accept." Ami said and Mina nodded. They spent the rest of the night talking about their new protectors and other things that popped into their heads, unaware that Chad was missing from the Shrine and had been since he had gone looking for Hotaru.

Back at home, Serena and Ranma helped get Ryoga get settled in Ranma's room on a spare cot. As soon as it was set up with clean sheets and blankets, all three sat down. 

"This is so weird. I mean the day before yesterday, I knew that I was never going to be able to move normally or do anything with the art again and I knew that I would not have someone to love me for who I am. But know, I'm completely healed and I have someone who has loved me for a thousand years." Ranma said softly as he drew his legs up to his chest.

"I know. For me it was I went to bed one night a crybaby wimp and the next say I was a super heroine and an alien princess to boot. I was put in charge of saving the world by fighting monsters when I had never fought anything in my life besides Sammy. And then just a year later, I found out that I married the Prince of Earth, had a little girl and was Neo-Queen Serenity, the ruler of the entire Solar system in the 30th century, not to mention I'm going to live for thousands of years. I mean, I'm 16 and I'm going rule everything and I'm still going to look twenty-three when I'm over a thousand!" Serena said and the other two looked at her in shock.

"Well, I woke up one day and figured out that my worst enemy is my best friend. Nothing like the two of you but, hey, that's life I guess." Ryoga said with a small chuckle.

"Well, I guess we should get to bed. Goodnight guys." Serena said as she stood up and headed for the door.

"Hey Serena, would you like to train with us? I figure if you're going to be Queen someday, you should learn the family style." Ranma said with a small smile.

"I don't know. I don't think I'm going to be good enough and besides, both of you are so much more advanced than I am." She said quietly.

"Hotaru is going to be doing it with us too so don't worry about it. We start at noon in the park." Ranma said and Serena finally nodded before she left to head towards her room.

Ranma and Ryoga turned off the lights and got into bed in silence. Just before Ranma could doze off though, Ryoga asked quietly, "Do you miss Nerima?"

"I miss the area and I miss some people, like Kasumi and Ukyo, but Ukyo abandoned me just like everyone else did, except Kasumi. She's the only one to stay by me the whole time. Now, goodnight, Ryoga." Ranma said, the rolled over and went to sleep.

"Night Ranma." Ryoga said as he too drifted off.

As soon as the Gundam pilots got back to the safe house, Trowa went to his room to check his laptop for any new missions. Though he would never admit it, he was slightly jealous of the others. They were all Knights and had someone to love, even though Heero and Wufei would never admit it out loud.

'You have a new mission. Enter password.' Was waiting on his screen after he opened the connection to the Doctor.

** **

**'Nanashi' **he entered without a moment pause.

**'Password confirmed. Enter secondary password.'**

** **

**'Shin-chan no baka'**

** **

**'Secondary password approved.' **Quickly encoded writing scrolled across the screen and just as fast, Trowa decoded and read it.

**'Mission accepted. Terminate connection.' **He typed and severed the connection as **'Good luck'** appeared.

Closing the lid of his laptop, he hurried downstairs where the others were either getting something to eat or talking to Lita. "I'm going on a solo mission." He announced and the others nodded and said goodbye in their own ways. Within moments, he was in the cockpit of Heavyarms and was heading for the mobile doll base he was ordered to destroy.

At the same time Trowa was heading for his fight, Sailor Pluto was heading for one of her own. Through the time gates, she had seen a yoma attack in America. Not wanting to bother Serena and the girls, she used the time gate to get there and challenged the monster as it drained energy from a small group of victims. It looked like a cross between a cat and a bird.

"Guarding the Gates of Time, I am Sailor Pluto. How dare you attack people who are trying to relax under the full moon. I cannot forgive you. In the name of Pluto, I shall punish you." She said as she pointed her staff at the monster as it abandoned its victims and turned towards here. 'I'm starting to sound as stupid as Sailor Moon. I think I need to get more rest.' She though with a sweat drop that matched the one on the monsters forehead and the people watching, though the ones on the people watching was because she was still speaking in Japanese and they had no idea what she said, though it did still sound stupid.

After a moment to recover its self, the monster flapped its wings and shot, what looked like a fur ball, at the scout, who nimbly dodged. Hearing a hissing sound, she turned quickly towards the fur ball and saw that the outer covering had melted away to reveal ten miniature versions of the yoma. They quickly started circling her and as they got fasted, they started to glow with a black glow that built up until it was a wall between her and the outside world.

Throwing a Dead Scream at the wall, it rebounded back to hit her in the stomach. When she was able to look again, the wall had formed a dome over her and the creatures had stopped running though they were still glowing. But the light was getting brighter and she could since the energy that was growing in them. Knowing they were about to explode and kill her, she started attacking the dome, but this time, instead of deflecting the attacks, it absorbed them. She couldn't even open a gate to the Time Gates.

'I really don't want to die like this.' She thought and suddenly she started glowing a maroon light.

Trowa was in trouble. He had succeeded in destroying half the base, but now, he was being swarmed by dozens of mobile dolls. 'I really don't want to die like this.' He thought as he ran out of bullets and missiles. Suddenly, he seemed to hear echo of his thought and he started glowing with a dark maroon light. The light kept getting stronger and stronger until even his Gundam was glowing. After about a minute of this, the light exploded outward, wiping out the mobile dolls and the rest of the base, even as he turned into energy and was rocketed around the world, his Gundam disappearing from around him to be transported back to the hanger under the safe house they were currently staying at.

He solidified just as the creatures were about to explode."Dead Shout!" he yelled as maroon energy shot from his hands to hit the dome. Unlike when Sailor Pluto had tried from inside, it exploded at contact, destroying it in time for him to jump into the ring of glowing creatures and jump out again dragging her with him. The creatures detonated a moment later.

"Pluto Knight?!" Sailor Pluto gasped as she got a good look at her rescuer. His outfit was the same as the other Knights, except his cape was maroon lined and he had a maroon mask that covered his eyes.

"Yes. Talk later. We have a monster to defeat first." He said and she nodded. She readied her staff as he drew his sword for the scabbard.

"Sword Barrage!" Pluto Knight shouted as hundreds of energy swords flew from his sword at enemy that then exploded on contact.

"Dead Scream!" Sailor Pluto whispered as the bright purple attack shot from her staff to hit the monster it the chest.

Their attacks destroyed the yoma as the small crowd cheered and the energy went back into the victims. Seeing that Pluto knight was about to collapse, Sailor Pluto opened a portal to the Time Gate and quickly dragged him after her as she disappeared into it.

As they disappeared, a figure in the shadows, who had watched everything, turned to go with a small dragon curled around their neck.

Hi! I'm sorry to rush through finding most of the Knights. I'm going to wait a while before Neptune and Uranus Knights arrive. Thanks for being so patient with me and my story!

Shinigami-chan 


	7. Chibi Moon Brings Friends from the Futur...

Ranma ½: Old and New Friends

I seem to have forgotten to put in how old everyone is. The inner scouts and the Gundam pilots are all 16. Hotaru is 13, Haruka and Michiru are 18, Sestuna is 20 and Ranma is 19.Darien is 20 and Zechs and Treize are 20 and 21, respectively. At least they will be when they get there, since I'm sure most of you have realized who they will be in my story. Also, I will be referring to the Knights as with their name and a K after it like Pluto Knight would be, Pluto K. this way I don't confuse everyone when both Sailor and Knight from a planet are fighting together. Anyway, here is the next chapter in Gundam Moon 1/2

Ranma ½: Old and New Friends

Chibi Moon Brings Friends from the Future

***************

Chapter 7

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Sailor Pluto and Pluto Knight appeared at the time gate and Trowa lost his transformation as he collapsed at the ground, almost taking Sestuna with him.

"Trowa, are you all right?" she asked as she knelt next to him, but he didn't hear her as he was already unconscious. "I guess I'll just have to wait for you to wake up before I thank you for saving my life." She murmured as she picked him up and brought him to the small house near the Time Gate to rest.

Ukyo woke up to bright sunlight streaming in through her open window and a bird sing just outside in a near by tree. 'Today I will go after my Ran-chan.' She though happily as she got dressed and stuffed some things in her travel packs.

Ten minutes later, she was locking the front door to her restaurant, which had a sign on the door saying that if would be closed for a few weeks. After double-checking the locks, she hurried towards the Tendo dojo, happy thoughts circling her mind. 

'By now, he should be almost be as good as new again and then we can get married and run the Ucchan together and have a ton of kids. After all, I'm the cute fiancée and he loves me.' She thought happily to herself.

Arriving at the dojo, she knocked on the door and waited as someone hurried to open it. She took a step back when Akane opened the door.

"What do you want?" Akane snapped as she saw who was waiting at the door.

"I came by to talk to Kasumi." Ukyo said stiffly. She had never liked Akane and after what she and her family had done to Ranma, Akane had dropped off the very bottom of Ukyo's list of people she liked and on to the very top of her list of people she hated.

"What do you want with my sister?" Akane growled at the chef.

"That is between me and her so get out of my face and tell her that I'm here to talk." Ukyo snapped angrily. Before Akane could say anything else, Kasumi stepped up behind her and gently pushed her back into the house.

"Akane, would you go get me the mop from the hall closet? I spilled some soup on the floor of the kitchen." She said and Akane nodded reluctantly before casting on last glare at Ukyo then turned and went into the house.

"Kasumi, I just came by to ask for Ranma's new address." Ukyo said as the older girl turned back to her.

"Wait just a moment and I'll write it down for you." Kasumi said as she went back into the house for a minute. She was back a moment later with a small piece of paper. "Here you go, Ukyo. God luck and tell Ranma hello for me, ok?"

"Ok Kasumi. Thank you." Ukyo said as she turned and left. 'Soon my darling Ranchan will be together and no one is going to get between us ever again.'

At noon, Ranma, Ryoga, Hotaru, Serena, and Lita, with Duo and the other pilots, except Trowa who was still gone, tagging along, met at the lake. "Ok, first we are going to start with a gentle jog around the lake. Later, Ryoga and I will show you guys, um and girls some katas that will be easier for some of you to learn. Since Lita and Wufei have already had some training, Ryoga will show them harder ones will the re4st of us continue the others. I would do it because I know more advanced ones from my family's…er ex-family's style, but I can't really perform them right now." Ranma said and turned towards Ryoga's pack on the ground nearby and started pulling out weights to put on everyone's ankles.

Everyone except Hotaru, who got one pound weights, got two pounds weights. Ryoga and Ranma also didn't get weights. They carried heavy packs instead. As they started on their jog, Ryoga lead with Lita, Heero and Wufei right behind him and Quatre and Serena right behind them. Ranma and Duo ran on either of Hotaru at the back of the group to make sure she would be able to do it and to make sure she knew that she was welcome there.

"So Hotaru, how old are you? In my memories, you were as old as I was, but now, you seem a little younger." Duo said quietly.

"I would have been 16, but about a year ago, I has taken over by Mistress 9. Later, when I became Sailor Saturn, I defeated her master Pharaoh 90, but I used up most of my energy and was transformed into a baby. When I was needed again, I started to age, but I stopped aging when I hit 13." Hotaru said, and then got a horrified look on her face. "My age isn't going to be a problem. Is it?!"

"It's only three years difference. Darien is four years older than Serena and from what she's told me, they get married and rule some place called Crystal Tokyo together." Ranma said reassuringly.

"Really?"

"Yeah! You're my little Firefly and nothing is going to change that." Duo said as he grabbed her hand and kissed it quickly. They continued jogging in silence the rest of the way, but by the end, Hotaru and Ranma were gasping for breath.

As they caught their breath, Ryoga took off his pack and said, "Everyone can take off their weights now. As soon as everyone catches their breath, we'll start on a basic kata. For everyone who already knows some katas, you can come with me. We'll be going over there to do some more complicated ones."

Within ten minutes, Ranma was leading Duo, Hotaru, Serena, Quatre, and Heero through the moves, stopping every once in a while to correct one or another who were following him. Twenty feet away, Ryoga was leading Wufei and Lita throughthe moves of an intermediate kata that both of them took to with little difficulties.

Meanwhile, at the Time Gates, Sestuna was watching Trowa as he slept. "I wish you would wake up." She whispered as she sipped her tea. As she sat there, she called up a viewing screen and started to watch her life during the Silver Millennium. The first thing she saw was her first meeting with the Pluto Knight….

***************

Flashback

***************

"Your Majesties, the Pluto Knight and a young man are here to see you." A butler announced as he lead a tall man and a boy into the throne room in the Royal Palace on Pluto.

The tall man was dressed in a gray uniform with a black cape with the inside maroon tossed over his shoulders and a maroon mask over his eyes. His brown hair was cut short in pack and his bangs were long. They stuck straight out in front of him, covering one eye.

The boy was about fourteen, the same age as the Princess and looked similar to the older man with his emerald eyes and the brown hair that covered one brilliant orb. He was wearing tight black pants with a blue turtleneck.

"My dear Knight. It is wonderful to see you again. Is it time already?" the Queen said as she dismissed her servants and guards then approached and hugged the older man.

"It is good to see you too, your Majesty and yes it is time." Pluto knight said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Where is your husband?"

"He's in a meeting with his advisers. So, is this him?" she asked as she looked over at the boy.

"Yes, his name is Triton." Pluto K. said as he too turned to the boy.

"It is an honor to meet you." Triton said as he bowed to the Queen, then turned to the Princess, who was standing behind her mother. It is also an honor to meet you, Princess."

"Triton, this is Princess Sestuna. You will be in charge of protecting her as Pluto Knight." The Queen said as Pluto K. took out a maroon disk with a key in the center. As he handed it to his son, his uniform flickered and disappeared, leaving in its place a pair of black pants with a dark blue t-shirt.

"Do you accept this honor?" 

"Yes."

The Queen turned too her daughter at the same time and handed her a transformation pen. "Sestuna, this is your wand to transform into Sailor Pluto. Just say Pluto Planet Power and you will transform into Sailor Pluto. You will be trained later to take over the Time Gates when I have more time." The queen said and Sestuna nodded as she held up the wand. Within moments, both Triton and Sestuna were transformed. Triton looked just like his father had only a few minutes before with the uniform and maroon mask and cape.

Sestuna was now wearing a white body suit with a black sailor collar, skirt, and choker with black material at the top of her elbow length gloves. She had two maroon bows with the one on her chest having a red disk in the center. On her feet was a pair of black boots that reached to her knees with a small white stripe along the top edge.

"Congratulations, you two. Now, you need to train in your basic powers and to do that you will need your weapons. For Sailor Pluto it is the Time Staff." The queen said as she transformed into Eternal Sailor Pluto. Her outfit was the same as her daughter's except the skirt had three layers, black, maroon, and a white layer between them. Her poof sleeves were maroon and her bows were more angular and had a heart shaped center. Her back bow also had two long streamers coming from it that reached to her ankles. Her boots were also different in the aspect that they had spiked heels, where Sestuna's had only half-inch heels. In her hands appeared a tall key shaped staff that had a grant orb at the top.

Handing the staff to her daughter, she smiled and said, "This Time key will allow you to do your attack Dead Scream, and it will allow you to control the Time Gates. With it, you can also make small key's so that a chosen person can use it to travel in time with out you."

Turning to Pluto Knight, she picked up a sword from beside the throne, and presented it to him. "Pluto Knight. This is the Time Sword. With this, you too can control the time gates and do magical attacks. Your father will have to instruct you in those, though, as I have no clue about them." She said and he nodded.

"Thank you."

***************

End Flashback

***************

"My real name is Triton?" Trowa asked from behind Pluto. Spinning around, she saw him sitting up in the bed, watching over her shoulder. With a wave of her hand, she made the viewer disappear before answering his question.

"Yes. Didn't you know that?"

"No. I was raised by a group of mercenaries that called me Nanashi my entire life." He said quietly. Catching the question in her eyes, he said, "Nanashi means No Name. I later took the code name Trowa BartonI was sent to earth as a Gundam pilot."

"Would you prefer to be called Trowa or Triton?" she asked and he was quiet a moment before saying, "You can call me either of them. It doesn't really matter."

Before she could say anything about that, two things happened. The first was she heard the sound of the time gates as they let some one through. The second one was Trowa started to glow again and suddenly, he was the same age as she was. 

As she was starring at him, someone knocked on the door to the little house and opened it before Sestuna could gather her wits. "Puu, I hope you don't mind, but mama sent us back to train and she said to…oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Rini exclaimed as she ducked out of the door and slammed it behind her.

The sound of the door slamming was enough to knock her out of her shock. Quickly, she stood up and hurried to the door with Trowa a step behind. Outside, they found Rini and five boys waiting for them with the boys surrounding Rini in an attempt to protect her. Rini herself was still blushing as she stared at the ground.

"Small Lady, what is this about?" Sailor Pluto said as she grasped her key tightly.

"Um, mom sent us back to train with the scouts and the knights. I'm so sorry Puu! I didn't men to interrupt you and Trowa."

"How did you know my name?" Trowa said as he slid into a defensive stance.

"You married Puu before I was born and…" Rini started but one of the boys spoke up before she could finish.

"She knows your name because you are my father." He said and Trowa turned to him in shock. The boy was a 12 years old kid with forest green hair that was cut short in back and long in front so that it hung over one light brown eye. He was wearing tight blue jeans and a black turtleneck with brown boots. Trowa didn't have any pictures of when her was that age, but he knew that if the kid had brown hair and green eyes instead of the other way around and if the turtleneck were a dark blue instead of black, they would have looked identical. So Trowa did the only think his over taxed mind could think of. He fainted.

"Trowa!" Pluto and Rini yelled as they rushed to catch him.

"What's wrong with him?" one of the other boys asked as the younger Trowa look alike moved forward to help. He, too, looked like he was twelve and he had long black hair that was pulled back into a braid and purple eyes. He was wearing tight back jeans with a baggy black t-shirt and black boots.

"He just met a son he hasn't had yet. What do you think is the problem?" another boy snapped. Like all the other boys, he was twelve also with short messy brown hair and deep blue eyes. He had black jeans, blue sneakers, and a blue tank top that showed off his well-defined muscles. The expression on his face, though made the other boy gulp and back away nervously.

"Both of you be quiet. Trowa is starting to wake-up." another boy, this one blond with light blue eyes said and the others nodded. This short boy wearing black jeans with a yellow t-shirt and brown boots was the leader of the group and the others looked to him for direction.

The five boys watched in silence as Trowa opened his eyes and climbed to his feet warily. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a viewing portal popped into existence in front of the group.

Sailor Pluto immediately turned to it and studied the images being showed. It was a view of the park near the lake and it showed Sailors Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn dodging pieces of fruit that exploded as soon as it touched something. Ryoga, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus Knights were dodging and attacking Ebonite, keeping him busy so that he could not disappear. 

Suddenly, Jupiter K. went down hard as he was blasted in the stomach by a black ball of energy. Normally he could have taken it and kept on fighting, but because of his weakened state, it knocked him out of the fight. Ryoga charged at Ebonite and was taken out of the fight with a point black energy blast to his face. Pluto winced as he lay on the ground screaming in pain, his eyes reduced to empty sockets.

Quickly, she looked at the possible future if someone didn't help them soon and blanched as she saw all the scouts and Knights killed in bloody, violent ways, after which, the world was completely destroyed as Ebonite and a shadowed figure behind him, took over and wiped everything out, leaving the earth as a dead and lifeless, ball floating in space.

"I can not allow this to happen!" she said in a deadly voice. Waving her key, the view portal disappeared. Slamming the but of her staff on the floor, a gate opened and she headed towards it.

"I'm coming too." Trowa said as he grabbed his transformation disk out of thin air. In the space of a few seconds, Pluto Knight stood next to Sailor Pluto.

"Don't forget about us." Rini said as she pulled out her compact. The boys nodded as they also pulled out small disks. "Moon Prism Power!" she yelled and immediately she was transformed into Sailor Chibi-Moon. Without saying anything, the boys also transformed into chibi versions of Mars, Pluto, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus Knights.

"…" Wordlessly, Pluto and Pluto K. turned and disappeared through the doorway with the others following right behind them.

Sailor Moon was getting really worried. The attack had come just after they had finished working out. A banana had fallen just in front of them and they had watched, stunned as it exploded. Everyone who could, had transformed as fast as they could, only to be attacked by a monster that looked like a banana it's self. Ebonite had arrived at the same time and the guys had gone to fight him, leaving the girls to fight the creature after sailor Jupiter had yelled at them to just get out of her way.

Now, with Ranma and Ryoga injured and out of the fight, and Hotaru feeling tired from the endless jumping about as she dodged the attacks, and Lita not being about to land a decent hit, things were looking grim. Hearing another scream of pain, she risked a glance over her shoulder just in time to see Quatre collapse, blood dripping down the side of his face from a large cut at his hairline from where Ebonite had slammed him with his fist. The cut must have come from the ring on his finger and it was not as bad as it seemed with all the blood.

'Please, someone help us.' Serena thought desperately to herself. As is in answer to her thoughts, Pluto arrived with a whole bunch of people that she hadn't expected. Chibi-moon was there, surrounded by what appeared to be smaller versions of the knights fighting Ebonite at the moments. And next to Sestuna was another Knight, who she was guessing to be Pluto Knight.

"Dead Scream." "Dead Shout!" Pluto and Pluto K. said together. As the two balls of maroon energy hit the monster, it exploded, destroying everything in a ten-foot radius. All activities sensed as everyone turned to stare at the two responsible as they slowly advanced side by side.

"We will not allow you to destroy this world. You and your leader will never succeed." Pluto and Pluto K. said together, as if they had practiced what they were going to say before hand.

"My Queen sends her regards. Now things are getting to boring. Good-bye." Ebonite said and disappeared.

There was a complete silence for a moment before Chibi-Moon turned to Sailor Moon and rushed to give her a hug. "Sailor Moon! Mommy sent us back to train again. Isn't it great?!" she said as she let her go to look up at the shocked face above her.

"What?! US?!" Serena exclaimed as she stared down at the pink haired girl. She was older now, about twelve and her hair was starting to lose the big poofs that usually puffed out. Now they were starting to get longer and thinner as they hung down to her elbows..

"Yeah. Mom sent back with me half of my guard. The others will be coming later. They're younger then the others, so mom and the other scouts wanted to train them a little bit more." Rini said as she turned and motioned for the Chibi-Knights to come forward.

"Sailor Moon, these are Chibi- Venus Knight, Chibi-Mercury Knight, Chibi- Mars Knight, Chibi- Saturn Knight, and Chibi-Pluto Knight. Or Tai, Odin, Matt, Duo Jr., and Triton, in that order." She said and they bowed as their names were called. 

The one named Duo Jr., however, started grumbling to himself as he glared at the little girl. Catching his glare, Chibi-Moon grinned and said, "Don't call Duo Jr. that. He hates that name and prefers to be called Shin."

"Shin? As in Shinigami?" Duo said from behind the group of boys. He and the other Knights had already detransformed as the two Moons had been talking and Ranma had woken up as well, but he was sitting next to Ryoga as the lost boy put one of his many bandanas over his bloody sockets.

"That's right. Who's asking?" Shin demanded as he turned around.

"Shinigami." Duo snapped angry that some one had stole his name and his Knight position. Then he got a good look at the boy and almost had a heart attack. "Wha...what…what the HELL?!" he screamed as he turned white as a sheet. If it wasn't for the black hair, the kid would look identical to him when he was that age, if just a little bet better fed.

"Shinigami? Pop!" Shin said as he lost all his hostility and a huge grin spread across his face, a grin that the other Gundam Pilots knew very well, as they saw it every day on the face of the manically cheerful Duo Maxwell.

"Pop?!" they gasped as they stared at the two of them. Duo didn't say anything, but he suddenly sat down hard on the ground. 

"I'm a dad?! But I'm to young to have a kid!" he said and Hotaru rushed up to him and dropped to her knees next to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Duo! Don't worry. He's from the future. You haven't had any kids yet, unless you haven't told me something?" she said as she drew back a little with a hurt look on her face.

"No! I never… I haven't…" he stuttered with a blush on his face as he gathered her close again and she smiled happily as she snuggled against his chest. Before they or Shin or anyone else could say anything more, Ranma spoke up from his position next to Ryoga, who was now leaning heavily against him.

"While this is incredibly interesting, Ryoga needs some help here. That guy's attack destroyed Ryoga's eyes and I don't know what to do."

"Oh my god, Ryoga!" Hotaru said as she scrabbled out of Duo's arms to rush to Ryoga who turned towards the sound of her voice. "Let me see." She demanded and Ryoga nodded as he fumbled with the bandana. After a moment, she brushed his hands aside and took it off herself. She gasped as she saw the ruin that used to be his face, especially his eyes, before she gentle covered the empty sockets with her small hands. Concentrating, her hands started to glow purple as she started to heal the massive amounts of damage. When it appeared that she was starting to falter as her energy started to wane, Duo put a hand on her shoulder and gave her some of his energy as he had been taught to in the Silver Millennium. Casting him a grateful smile, she went back to work. Just as Duo was starting to tire, she removed her hands and stopped taking the energy she needed to work with from Duo.

As they slumped against each other tiredly, the others gathered around to see that Ryoga's eyes were as good as new and the various cuts and scratches were also healed. The only difference now, was Ryoga's green eyes now had purple flecks in the irises.

During the time when Hotaru had been healing Ryoga, the others had detransformed and the rest of the Senshi and Darien had arrived. Now, Rini took off her backpack and started rooting around inside. When Serena looked at her curiously, she said, "Mom sent you a letter and some other stuff." She handed her the letter and kept looking through the bag, pulling things out and putting them to the side.

Curious, Serena opened the letter and started to read.

Dear Serena,

Thank you for all that you have done with Rini there in the past. I have noticed that she is a lot more mature and is a capable fighter. I want her to train some more with you so I sent her back. I also want her protectors to train some too, so I have sent back the chibi Knights of Mercury, Mars, Venus, Saturn and Pluto. The Chibi-knights from Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune will be along with the Chibi-scouts of some of the planets. There are currently chibi-scouts from Pluto, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Venus. They will be along later as the Chibi-scouts are only eight and the other scouts want them to train a little bit more before they are sent back and the chibi-knights are also twelve like the five we sent back. By the way, I loved the presents you sent back with Rini last time, especially the cookies from her grandmother. Please send more!

Love,

Neo-Queen Serenity

P.S. I sent back more powerful transformation wands for all the scouts. You will need them, but there are none for the Knights or for Tuxedo Mask. Ja ne!

Serena sweat dropped briefly then folded the letter and crammed it into the envelope before turning to her future daughter. "She said you had new wands for us?" she said and Rini nodded as she held out a heart shaped locket to her.

After Serena had taken her new locket, Rini went to the other scouts and handed them their new wands, too. Finally she said, "Mama said that the next time to need to transform, Serena and I have to say Moon Crisis Power and the rest of you have to say your planet Crystal Power. Like Puu would say, Pluto Crystal Power. She said it was the next step in gaining your full powers. You only have one transformation left after this new one."

"Thank you, Small Lady." Sestuna said and handed her old wand to Rini who took it and went around to the others to get theirs as well. When she got back to Serena, she stopped her from handing the locket over. "Our lockets transfers our crystals to our new ones when we say our transformation phrase, so don't worry about it." She said importantly, then turned to Darien.

"Darien! Let's go get some ice cream!" she exclaimed as she jumped into his arms and gave him a hug.

"Brat, get your hands off my man!" Serena growled as she stalked towards the pair.

"Darien is mine, Meatball head!" Rini shouted as she hugged him tighter.

"Flamingo head, let go!" Rini jumped to the ground and the two of them got into a tug of war with Darien being pulled in two directions by his arms while the others sweat dropped and laughed, except for the Gundam pilots, Ranma and Ryoga, who didn't know them well enough to be more than stunned.

While the girls were still fighting over the embarrassed Darien, Duo turned to Trowa who was still standing next to Sestuna. "Trowa, what happened to make you look older?" he asked and all motion stopped as everyone blinked blinked at him and then turned to the older Trowa, who blushed.


	8. Ukyo and Her Darling Ranchan

Ranma ½: Arrival

Ranma ½: Arrival

Ukyo and Her Darling Ranchan

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Chapter 8

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"Trowa, what happened to make you look older?" Duo asked and all motion stopped as everyone blinked blinked at him and then turned to the older Trowa, who blushed. 

"He's right! He looks about as old as Zechs Marquee!" Quatre exclaimed and Duo started nodding franticly. "Yes! Yes! Exactly!"

"I can explain it." Sestuna said and she put her hand on Trowa's broad shoulder. "It's because of the Time Gates. Because he can also control them, he has a special bond with them and with me. We work better together when we are the same age so the Gates made us the same age. If he had more experience with the Time Gates than I did, I would have been turned into a sixteen year old instead of him being turned into a twenty year old." She said and the others stared at them for a moment before nodding.

"Well, that's ok, but who are the kids? Mina asked as she turned to the five younger boys standing off to one side.

"My name is Tai and I'm the son of Mina and Quatre. I am also Chibi-Venus Knight. It is a pleasure to meet you. If it is all right with you, I would prefer to call you Mina instead of mother as you are closer to may age now." Tai said as he nervously straightened his yellow T-shirt.

"Yeah, sure. What ever." Mina said, a shell-shocked expression on her face. Quatre wasn't as surprised after meeting Shin earlier and having suspicions from first seeing Chibi-Venus K.

The next to step up was a boy with black hair that was tied in a small pony tail and purple eyes he was wearing black Chinese style pants with a red silk, long sleeved Chinese style shirt over a white tank top, kind of like what Ranma was currently wearing, but Ranma's shirt was sleeveless. "I'm Chang Matt, son to Chang Wufei and Rei. I am also Chibi-Mars K." he said and Rei goggled at him in shock. Wufei was just mentally evaluating him.

"Odin Yuy. It's a pleasure." This came from the boy with messy short brown hair and deep blue eyes wearing black jeans with a blue tank top and black sneakers. "I'm Chibi- Mercury K." he said grudgingly as Shin elbowed him.

"H.! I'm Shin, or Duo Jr. Do not ever call me that. Like I said earlier, my parents are Duo and Hotaru Maxwell. I'm Chibi-Saturn K." he said cheerful. It wasn't a shock to Duo and Hotaru as they were already used to the idea.

"I the oldest child of the Time Guardians, Sestuna and Triton Bloom, who goes by Trowa Barton to avoid confusion. My name is Triton and I'm Chibi-Pluto K." he said as he stepped forward and gave a small bow to everyone. With his forest green hair that hung over one light brown eye, and his tight blue jeans and black turtleneck with the brown soft skin boots, it was very easy to believe.

Sestuna took a step forward after a moment of wrapped her arms around her future son, surprising most of the people present. Sestuna isn't a person that showed her emotions in public and now, here she was hugging someone, almost crying, and Trowa, who usually, you could never read his expression, was openly smiling as he, too, approached and wrapped his arms around his little family.

Soon, the children were surrounded by their families, with Ranma, Ryoga, Haruka, and Michiru, and Lita standing off to one side as they watched.After about ten minutes of everyone getting to know everyone else, Serena spoke up.

"I know Rini can stay with me again, but where are you guys going to stay? We already have Ranma and Ryoga staying with us, so I don't think there will be enough room for anyone else."

"I can have two stay with me if they don't mind sharing a room." Darien said and Serena smiled at him gratefully.

"Matt can stay at the shrine. He'll just have to do a few chores for Grandpa." Rei said and her future son nodded in agreement.

"We have plenty of room at the safe house. The rest can stay there with us, and the others can come over anytime." Quatre said with a bright smile hat was echoed on Mina and Tai's faces.

"I'll stay at the safe house!" Shin shouted and Duo grinned and Odin immediately said, "Then I will stay with his Majesty." The others laughed at the eagerness Odin showed at getting away from the hyperactive Shin.

"I want to stay at the safe house as well." Tai said and Triton nodded. With that taken care of, Sestuna cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"I was meditating last night at the time gates, before the monster attack in America, and I have some news for Haruka and Michiru." Once she had the two outer scouts complete attention, she said, "Your Knights are Treize Kushrenada and Zechs Marquee. It will be up to you two what you do about this information." She said and left after saying good-bye to her new family. Between one moment and the next, she disappeared.

Michiru and Haruka left soon after that in Haruka's sports car. Serena, Rini, got a ride back to Serena's house in Darien's car with him and Odin, who were going to Darien's house afterwards, and Hotaru and Duo led the others back to the safe house to get everyone settled, with Rei and Matt heading towards the Cherry Hill Temple. Ranma and yoga decided to walk home, as there wasn't enough room in Darien's car for both of them.

As they walked, Ranma and Ryoga talked about training and the scouts and their surprise guests from the future. But they were about to get another surprise guest. This time from Ranma's past.

Ukyo stepped off the train in Jubaan, her spirits high. With her pack on her back and her giant spatula strapped to her pack, she asked a tall girl with long green hair for directions. After getting them, she walked off, leaving the girl staring after her in puzzlement.

'What would that girl have to do at Serena's house?' Sestuna thought. She quickly opened a portal to the Time Gates, which she could do without transforming, and slipped though. Calling up a window, she watched at Ukyo walked determinedly towards the house, while at the same time Ranma and Ryoga approached from the opposite direction.

Ranma had put his leg braces on and had started using his crutches, the closer they got to the house, so that if anyone saw them, it wouldn't look as strange. After all, he was supposed to be partially paralyzed and he wasn't supposed to be able to walk with out the braces and crutches.

As they started up the walkway to the front door, with Ranma grabbing Ryoga every once in a while to keep him on the right path, Ukyo turned the corner and caught sight of the familiar pigtail.

"Ranchan!" she squealed as she dashed up the walkway. Ranma turned at the familiar name just in time for her to tackle him onto his back in a hug.

"Ukyo?" Ranma gasped as he tried to pry her arms from around him so that he could sit up. There was a rock digging into his spine.

"It's so good to see you!" she said as she planted a kiss on his mouth. It took her a minute to realize that her wasn't returning her kiss and was in fact struggling to get away. "What's wrong darling?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong is you abandon me when I needed you the most. Heh, everyone abandoned me except Kasumi. But now, after all this time, you come here calling me Ranchan and darling!"

"What? I didn't abandon you, I went on a training journey because it hurt to see you like that." She said and he snorted in disbelief.

"Yeah right. Now state what you want and go away." He said coldly.

"Want? You're my fiancée."

"No I'm not. You broke it off and even if you didn't, we're still not engaged."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that I'm no longer a Saotome. Your fiancé is Genma's son and he no longer has one. Ranma is dead to the Saotomes. If you want to get your honor back for Genma stealing you dowry, than go to him. I'm sure his wife Nodoka would love to met you. After all, his problems are her problems." Ranma said sarcastically. Turning away from the stunned girl, he said, "Ryoga, can you give me a hand? I can't get up with these things on."

"Sure."

Ryoga's voice knocked Ukyo out of her shock and she scrambled to her feet. "But Ranchan! I'm your cute fiancée! You love me!" she exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet.

"I may have loved you once, a long time ago, but you have never loved me. To you, I was just a way to salvage your family's honor. I was nothing but a possession to you and Shampoo and Akane. Not one of you loved me and it is over now. I refuse to let you ruin my life again." Ranma snapped.

"Ruin your life? I never…" she started weakly, but he cut her off before she could protest more.

"Yes you did. You never gave me a chance to just talk to you or hang out with my old buddy Ucchan. Instead, you had to constantly remind me that I was you fiancée and that I had to marry you. Then when you, Shampoo, Akane, and Kodachi got into fights over me, I would end up being caught in the middle of it. Well, I'm tired of it all and I'm glade I don't have any of you for fiancées anymore. At least Lita likes me for who I am." He said and immediately regretted it as Ukyo straightened abruptly with fire in her eyes.

"I knew it! You're seeing someone else already! Probably another fiancée. She's tricked you into think that she loves you!" she exclaimed.

"No she didn't and she isn't my fiancée. She is just a friend of Serena's that is training with Ryoga and me."

"Right. When I find this Lita she's dead!"

"Who the hell are you coming to my house and threatening my friends?" a voice said from behind the enraged Ukyo, who spun around to face the new person.

"Serena." Ranma said, relief clear in his voice, a fact not missed by anyone who heard it.

"Serena? As in Lita's friend? You're just trying to take my Ranchan a way from me. You're just trying to get him for yourself!" Ukyo shouted as she whipped out a few mini spatulas to keep her busy while she grabbed her bigger spatula off her bag.

Serena screamed as she saw the sharp cooking tools flying at her and dodged to the side, but one of the spatulas sliced six inches off one of her pigtails, but Serena hadn't noticed it yet as she was flat on her back because she had tripped during her dodge. What caught her attention was the absolute stillness from everyone around her, including Rini and the rest of the family, who had come out to see what the screams were all about. Even Ukyo was still as Ryoga had her wrapped in his arms so she couldn't move.

"Ouch…hey! What's going on?!" she exclaimed when she saw that everyone was starring at her.

"Ser..rena…your hair…" Ranma stuttered as he pointed at her.

"What? What about my…hair…" she trailed off as she ran her hands down the length of her pigtails. When she came put short on her right one, she hesitantly looked down to see the small pile of hair on the sidewalk.

Her family winced in sympathy as tears started to snake down her face as she held up the shorted hair. "my pigtail…you cut off my pigtail you bitch!" she screamed, drawing shocked stares from her family as it was a well known fact that there was no swearing allowed and, even if it wasn't, Serena never swore. It just wasn't in her nature.

As everyone's attention was on Serena, Ukyo took this opportunity to throw her head back, smashing it into Ryoga's face, dazing him. As he loosened his grip, she wrenched herself away from him and grabbed her big spatula and started to swing it at the angry blond. Before she could finish her first over head swing, designed to knock her out, Ranma jumped into the path and blocked it with an up raised arm, shocking Ukyo to her bones.

"Ranma, what…" she started but he interrupted her.

"Leave her alone! Haven't you done enough already? I told you before, leave me alone! Just go away." He said coldly as she stared at him.

"I…it's her isn't it? She brainwashed you into thinking that you don't love me! Your dead!!!" she screamed as she dodged around Ranma and swung at the blond. Just before it hit, a crescent moon appeared on Serena's forehead and she started to glow with a silver glow that made it almost impossible to look at her.

Without a word, a beam of the silver light shot out and melted the spatula. As Ukyo stared at what remanded of her weapon, Serena started towards the chef, a deadly look on her face. Before anyone could do anything, she was in front of Ukyo. In the next few seconds, everyone's opinion of Serena changed because, it was then that she drew back her fist and slammed it into Ukyo's face. With one blow, Serena succeeded in doing something Shampoo had never managed to do in the two years they were fighting. She knocked her out with just one punch.

As Ukyo dropped like a ton of bricks, Serena's family and Ryoga stared at the blond. None of them had ever seen her like this. She was able and ready to stand up for her self and was able to stop an angry martial artist with one blow. She had finally grown p and her family couldn't be prouder, even Sammy was impressed. Rini was smiling while Ryoga and Ranma stared at her with a new sense of admiration. For one had been able to knock Ukyo out with one punch before. One mallet hit, yes, but never one punch.

Seeing the proud, but shocked, expressions on her parents' faces, Ranma quickly said, "Serena, congratulations! You have just learned to use you ki."

"Huh, ki?" Serena said as the sliver glow died down and the moon symbol disappeared from her forehead. He parents repeated her question right hater her.

"Yes. Ki is the energy in all living things. Very few people can manifest a battle aura or even do an attack, like your daughter just did." Ranma said with a smile.

"But that's impossible to do!" Ken protested, but Ranma just shook his head.

"No, it's possible. In fact, Ryoga and I can do it." He said and started glowing a bright green. After a moment of hesitation, Ryoga started glowing a green and gold swirled color. Both noticed the changes from their usual auras and made a mental note to talk about it later, after the others were gone.

"Wow! Can you teach me how to do that too?!" Sammy exclaimed eagerly and Ranma said, "I'll try, but everyone can't do it. I very surprised that Serena was able to do that because, usually the only people who are able to do what she did are yoga masters, martial artist masters or other people who are centered and have a lot of ki. Even most martial artists who are centered can't do more than a very small aura and can't even begin to learn how to do an attack." Ranma said as he and Ryoga dissipated their auras.

"I won't say that I understand this, but ok." Ken said and was about to turn back to his daughter when suddenly Ranma collapsed.

"Ranma!" everyone shouted as they rushed to the fallen teen. Turning him on to his back, Irene saw the huge cut on his arm that went almost to the bone that was still dripping blood. Taking her apron, she wrapped it tightly over the wound then ordered her husband to get the car. As everyone was rushing towards the car to get Ranma to the hospital, Serena turned and saw Ryoga was still standing next to the unconscious form of Ukyo.

"Ryoga? Are you coming?" she asked and he shook his head.

"No. I'll stay here and take care of her. I think I can get into the house later without getting lost." He said reassuringly and she nodded, throwing a quick smile at him before jumping into the car just before it left.

Sighing, he sat down next to Ukyo to wait for her to wake up. She started to stir a few minutes later and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Ryoga frowning down at her.

"What happened?" she groaned as she sat up, holding her head.

"You were knocked out when Serena punched you in the face." He said matter of factly.

"That…that bitch! I'll kill her for what she's done to Ranchan!"

"You will do nothing except turn around and go back to Nerima." Ryoga cut her off coldly.

"Why?" she snarled angrily.

"Because Ranma is going t hate you forever now. You and the others have been making his life a living hell for the past three years, and I admit that I did too, but we've settled our differences and are training together now. But you just attacked his cousin, who he is currently living with."

_"Cousin?!" _she exclaimed as she stared at him in shock, her anger forgotten.

"Yes, cousin. After he was disowned, and paralyzed, his Aunt and Uncle let him move in with them until he can get out on his own. You just don't understand, do you? Ranma Saotome is dead. The Ranma left is a weak, depressed guy who everyone except a few people abandoned him, including your self. Since he had been here and since I found him, he has changed for the better. Here he has peace and quiet and people that care for him." Ryoga said and thought, 'Peace and quiet? Right.' 

"But I didn't abandon him!" Ukyo protested.

"Ok, you didn't abandon him. You just said that you were going to stay away from him until he doesn't have to use his braces, crutches, or wheelchair anymore, right? Well, incase you didn't notice, he is still wearing his braces. The doctor said that he would never be able to walk without them again." 'But that was before he was healed.' He thought as Ukyo looked at him in shock.

"But, he needs me and besides, he loves me! Why shouldn't I…" she started but he cut her off angrily.

"Haven't you been listening to him? He said he might have loved you once, but you ruined it a long time ago. And listen to your self! All you keep saying is that he loves you, but not once have you ever said that you love him. I bet what happened was that after being away from him for a year, you realized that you still wanted him, like a trophy or a object to be displayed. You found that without him around, you didn't get as much attention and decided the best thing to do was to bring him back. And when you found out that he wasn't in the hospital by, I'm assuming Kasumi?" At her nod, he continued. "You decided to go after him again. Right?"

Ukyo didn't say anything and Ryoga continued in a less harsh voice as tears started leaking out of her eyes.

"He's happy here. For the first time in years, he is surrounded by people who care for him not because anything besides what he is, and he has found his soul mate I think in the form of a girl that understands him better than you or anyone from Nerima ever could. Just go home and get on with your life, and let him live his own. If you hadn't been so obsessed with Ranma, you would have noticed the twenty guys who are in love with you back there, if you haven't driven them off for good this time, like that guy that dresses like a girl who works for you. He has loved you for the past three years."

"But he's always going after all those other girls saying they are the true love of his life." She said weakly and he shook his head.

"That is just one of his ways to see if you love him enough to get jealous about them. But notice he always comes back to you and he never goes back to them. He has put himself in danger to help you out of trouble and I think that he is perfect for you, if you can get him to stop dressing like a girl and mailboxes and signs and bushes and everything else." He said and she looked at him blankly for a moment before standing up and grabbing her pack. She left quietly, but he saw that she was deep in thought about what he had said.

Sighing, he turned towards the house and carefully made his way inside to the living room, being careful not to get lost. He had feeling that they wouldn't see Ukyo for a long time, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen from something from Nerima in the near future.

Duo and the others finally arrived at the safe house and Duo immediately dragged Hotaru and Shin upstairs, leaving the others to do what they wanted to. Once they reached the first landing that led to the second floor, he said "Quatre and Trowa have their sets of rooms on this floor along with a music room and another living room. There also rooms for ten of his sisters." 

At the next landing, he said, "Wu-man and Heero stay on this floor. It has room for ten more sisters and ye another living room. There is also another room in the basement that they use for training. I'll show you guys later."

"Where do you sleep Duo? The next floor?" Hotaru asked as they headed up the stairs again.

"Nah. That floor is for guests and the rest of Quatre's sisters. I'm on the top floor." He said and showed them to the last landing. 

"There are a lot of rooms up here. Does anyone else stay up here too?" Shin asked as they started down the hall.

"Nope. It's just me. The rest of the rooms are basically guestrooms. I changed on into a training room and another into a music room where I can blast my music. Because I'm so high up, it doesn't bother the guys that much." Duo said in a cheerful voice. The truth was that when they had moved into this safe house, he had been 'assigned' the top floor. The others hadn't wanted him around them as he didn't fit into their groups. Trowa and Quatre had their quiet, music playing group and Heero and Wufei had their tough as nails, mission and anti-weakness group. But Duo wasn't able to be like them. He was too different.

Turning to Shin, he said, "You can pick any room on any floor and we'll just move the stuff out of it and into one of these spare rooms if it occupied by one of the sisters. And you can stay here when ever you want to, Firefly."

"I like it up here. I stay in this room over here." Shin said with a smile as he opened a door and tossed his bag on the bed before rejoining his teenage parents.

"I'll take the room next to yours whenever I can stay over." Hotaru said as she wrapped her arms around Duo who smiled and hugged her back. They stayed like that until Shin rejoined them.

"So what kind of music do you have in this music room of yours?" Shin asked after a moment of silence as a grin spread across his face. An answering grin appeared on Duo's as he lead them towards a door three down from the end of the hallway.

Opening the door, he led them into a spacious room there were two couches and a table in one corner of the room. Across from them was a huge entertainment system. There was a large screen TV with a DVD player underneath, and beside it in another compartment was a huge stereo system with kick-ass speakers on either side of the case. On the bookshelves that covered one entire wall where thousands of CDs and tons of movies. There were lamps placed all over the room and a large space in the center of the room if you wanted to dance or something. Everything was also in shades of black and purple.

"This is my music an entertainment room. It's not as good as the one I used to have when I was in training, but it makes do." Duo said happily as he looked around.

Shin and Hotaru were slightly surprised but the loved it on sight. Shin wandered over to the music selection while Hotaru went over to a small lamp to look at it up close.

"Oh my god, you have Stabbing Westward!" Shin exclaimed and Hotaru asked who they were. "Just about my favorite oldies group. They have this one song called Sleep on their Wither Blister Burn + Peel. It's my favorite song! Can I put it on? I haven't heard it since my copy broke about two years ago." 

"Sure, and it's not oldies, the album only came out six years ago. Older, I know, but not oldies." Duo protested as Shin danced over the stereo and popped it into the CD player, hit number nine and pushed play. As the song started, Shin and Duo shared a smile while Hotaru listened to her first taste of music a la Maxwell style.

Downstairs, the others looked up as loud music started to come through the ceiling. "Oh no, it was to much to hope for that he wouldn't get another copy of this after his broke." Tai groaned as he recognized the song.

"We have the same problem with Duo. We tried to get him to stop blasting this CD but, then he just blasts one of the other CDs that he has." Quatre said tiredly. 

"It's has to be really loud this time for us to hear it from the fifth floor." Trowa said quietly and the other Gundam pilots nodded as the rest stared at them, shocked.

"Like father, like son, I guess." Heero said quietly and the others could do nothing but nodded in agreement.


	9. Super Sailor Scouts meet Uranus and Nept...

Ranma ½: Powers

Ranma ½: Powers

Super Sailor Soldiers meet the newest Knights

***************

Chapter 9

***************

A week passed in relative peace. Ranma was released from the hospital a day after the confrontation with Ukyo, the Gundam pilots had no new missions, and no new monsters appeared. Ranma and Ryoga trained with those that wanted to train, Duo and Shin tortured everyone at the safe house with their loud music and Hotaru tortured everyone at her house with the music she barrowed from Duo.

"Haruka, I've come to a decision. I want to go talk to Zechs and Treize." Michiru said as she sat down next to her lover as she read a book on the porch swing.

"Are you sure? They are the enemy to those guys, and they are currently waging a war against the colonies." Haruka said as she put down her book and looked over at her in concern.

"I know, but it think that if we are going to win against Ebonite and his Queen, who ever that is, then we will need everyone we can get."

"I guess that makes sense, but how are we going to see them? It's not like we can just waltz right in there and say, I need to talk to your general and the leader of your mobile suits because they need to save the world from evil, energy draining monsters and their queen."

"I figured we could transform and sneak in to see them." Michiru said, then shook her head. "It would never work. Their security is just to tight for us to get through, even in scout form."

"How about a special concert by world renown violinist Kaiou Michiru? With her piano playing counter part there of course." Haruka said slyly.

"Perfect. Now, should you call, or should I?"

Within two hours, it was set. Haruka and Michiru would go to the Oz base in England and perform for Treize and Zechs in honor of Zechs' twentieth birthday, to be held in two days. They were to leave in the morning, have a day of rest, then perform that night. It would be a privet audience with just the two men.

"Well, I guess we should get packing." Michiru said and Haruka nodded before they headed for their room. Suddenly, loud rock music started playing from the direction of Hotaru's room and Haruka sighed.

"I could really kill Duo for this. You know?"

"It's too quiet." Quatre said suddenly. He, Trowa, Tai and Triton were all sitting around in the music room on the second floor after creating a beautiful song with two violins and two flutes, when Quatre had made his stunning announcement.

"Well, it is true that Duo and Shin aren't blasting their music, but it's not that quiet." Trowa said as he looked up from the music he has writing. He made a habit of writing down all the music he and Quatre came up with, and this one with Tai and Triton was one of the best.

"No, Quatre's right. Something isn't right." Tai said as he tilted his head to the side, as if he could hear something that the others couldn't. Suddenly, his and Quatre's heads shot up to stare at the ceiling for a moment before they rushed out of room. Trowa and Triton stared after them for a moment before they rushed after them. They caught up with them on the stairs and together they rushed up to the fifth floor.

Once they were in the hallway, Quatre and Tai paused for a moment before they rushed to the door to Duo's exercises room. Throwing open the door, they found twenty Oz soldiers in the room. And in the middle of all the men, were Duo and Shin.

Duo was flat on his back. He appeared to have been roughed up a bit, but now they were stacking weights on his chest as they fired questions at him. Whenever he refused to answer a question, they would put another weigh on him. Shin was on his knees with both arms cuffed behind his back. His nose was bleeding and both eyes were swelling, and basically he looked like he was going to pass out at any minute.

At the sound of the door opening, the soldiers spun around and pointed their weapons at the four new comers. "Come in and put your hands on your heads." The leader said as he motioned a group of me to put cuffs on them.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? This is my home and you have no right to break in and torture my guests." Quatre snarled as a man approached him. "Hold it right there." He put so much authority into his voice that the entire group stopped what they were doing and snapped to attention before relaxing as they cast sheepish glances at their leader.

"And who do you think you are to tell us what to do and not to do?"

"My name is Quatre Raberba Winner and this is my house. You will state your reasons for being here and doing this and then you will leave and I will be getting in touch with Treize Kushrenada." 

"And why would he listen to a sixteen year old child?" the commander snapped irritated.

Before Quatre could say anything, a voice spoke up from behind him. "Because Treize is my uncle and Quatre happens to be my fiancée." Everyone turned to see Mina and Hotaru in the doorway. 

Hotaru immediately rushed to Duo's side and started shoving the weights off his chest. As soon as they were off, she put her hands over his chest and started healing his cracked and broken ribs. Turning her head slightly, she snapped, "You almost killed him you monsters! One more weight and his ribcage would have fully collapsed and crushed his heart!"

"Uncle Treize will hear about this, Commander Roseclear." Mina said darkly and he looked at her in surprise. Before he could say anything, she said, "Surprised I knew you name? Think back three years ago when Uncle Treize first became your leader. There was a huge ball and he brought his thirteen-year-old niece. You tripped and fell, knocking red wine all over her dress? Her white dress with roses embroidered on the hemline?"

"Lady Mina! I'm so sorry!" Roseclear exclaimed as he bowed deeply to her, to the shock of all present.

"Now, once again, what…are…you…doing...here?" she said slowly.

"There was a rumor that the Gundam Pilots were here and we were sent to discover if it was true, by any means necessary." He said and Mina scowled at him. She entertained the idea of slapping him, but Hotaru beat her to it. Marching up to Roseclear, she reached back her arm and punched him across the face.

The training she had been undergoing with Ranma, combined with the powers of being a scout which made her get the maximum effect in half the time a normal person would, had made her stronger. So her punch sent him flying back. He would have fallen, but Duo was standing behind him and caught him. Turning him around, he smiled grimly into the man's startled face, then sent a powerful punch that snapped the man's head back. Roseclear dropped like a stone. 

Stepping over his prone form, he stepped up to Hotaru and wrapped her arms around her. Looking at one of the men over her shoulder, she growled, "Take the handcuffs off of him." The man nodded quickly and stepped over to Shin. 

As soon as he was free, Hotaru and Duo hurried over and she worked her healing magic on him. The soldiers stared at her in shock and gave her a lot of space as she and her small family walked through them to the door.

Mina let them by, then turned to the man again. "There are no Gundam pilots here so you will pick up him and get out of here. And tell my Uncle that I will be visiting him at the England base in a couple days." She said coldly and the men nodded as they picked up their fallen leader and carted him out of the house.

As soon as they were gone, Duo and Hotaru grabbed Shin and pulled him into a group hug. Duo could feel a few tears wetting his chest as Shin broke down and started to cry softly. Duo could faintly hear him repeating to himself, "Boys don't cry, boys don't cry, boys don't cry."

Quatre, Mina, and the others respectively left them alone and headed into the living room. As the others sat down on the couches, Mina asked to use the phone. When Quatre nodded, she hurried over the videophone and punched in a long string of numbers. After a minute of waiting a face appeared on the screen. She said, "I would like to speak with General Treize Kushrenada immediately."

'I'm sorry miss, but you have to have certain clearance to talk to his excellency.' The woman said coldly.

"Rose, water, and trees are the loveliest things of all." Mina said in a cold voice that made the others look at her in confusion. She waved off their questioning looks as the woman started speaking again.

_ _

_'Passwords confirmed. Please tell me your name and I will see if he wants to talk to you.'_

"Lady Mina Goodingson." (I have no clue about her real last name so I just made one up. Does anyone know what it is?)

_'Please hold.'_ A picture of flowers appeared on the screen and classical music started playing as the woman went to ask and it wasn't long before Treize appeared on the screen.

_'Mina! What a pleasant surprise. I haven't heard from you in a long time.' _He said, warmth clear in his voice.

"This isn't a social call uncle." Mina said coldly and Treize looked at her, slightly surprised.

_'Then what is this about?'_ he asked her seriously.

"Your men just broke into a house and almost killed one of my friends. They said they were looking for the Gundams by any means necessary." 

_'I did say by any means, but I had not meant that they should kill any one.'_ Treize said as he frowned thoughtfully. _'They were sent, because it was a Winner estate and the current head of the family, Irene Winner said that she didn't think that any of her family was there. It was possible that the Gundam pilots had commandeered the place for themselves and were using it as a temporary base. I take it that this is not the case?'_ he asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"If you call ten guys living here possible, especially since one of them is my fiancée." She snapped, surprising her uncle.

_'Fiancée? When did this happen and who is this young man?'_ Treize asked calmly.

"Quatre Raberba Winner. And it is he and his friends that are currently living here." She said as she motioned Quatre to step up beside her.

Treize was almost to shocked for words as he stared at the screen. Quatre Raberba Winner had gone missing a year ago and no one had been able to find him. It had been assumed that her was dead. But there he was, standing next to his beloved niece, _engaged _to her.

Zechs was standing off to one side where he could see and hear everything, but couldn't be seen himself. He couldn't believe his eyes either. He hadn't known that Zechs had a niece, much less one who knew the Winners.

"Aren't you a little young to be engaged? I mean you're only sixteen. You're still in high school!" Treize protested.

_'We love each other. And it's not like we're going to get married tomorrow, we're going to wait a little while.'_ Mina said and smiled as Quatre wrapped his arms around her from behind her in a tender embrace. Suddenly, they saw him stiffen slightly as he gave Treize a piercing look before saying, _'Why don't you invite the person standing off to the side to join us? It's getting a little annoying at how you look at them out of the corner of your eyes every few seconds.'_

Treize, Zechs, and Mina stared at him in surprise for a moment before Zechs took a step that made him visible to the people on the other side of the screen when he received a nod from Treize.

"How did you know that he was there?" Treize asked curiously. He had thought he hadn't been too obvious.

_'When ever you did it, the corner of your eye would twitch slightly and you would almost smile before paying attention to the phone again.'_ Quatre said with a small smile. He looked over at Zechs and said, _'Hello Milliardo Peacecraft. It's been a long time since I saw you.'_

"What?!" both Treize and Zechs chorused, shocked.

_'Think back ten years ago to a party the Peacecrafts had held in the Sank Kingdom about six months before it's collapse. It was a party just between the Winners and the Peacecrafts. You were almost engaged to my older sister Terri and she begged off.'_ Quatre said and recognitionspread across Zechs' face.

"I remember that now, but how did you? You were only six at the time. Even my sister doesn't remember that and she was your age."

_ _

_'I don't mean to be rude, but your sister is a bit slow sometimes.'_ Quatre said and when he caught sight of Zechs slightly angry expression, he explained. _' I have meet her a number of times during the last two years and while it's great that she is backing the absolute pacifism, she over does it. She seems to think if she says the same thing enough, everyone would side with her. She said in one conversation I over heard one 'True peace can not be found through war' ninety-eight times and this conversation was only an hour and a half! Then the rest of the time is all about how great the love between her and someone named Heero Yuy is.'_

"…" Zechs was quiet while Treize was trying not to laugh at Zechs' chagrin. Finally, Treize couldn't hold it back anymore and he burst out laughing.

"Will you stop that?" Zechs snapped, causing his lover to laugh even harder. "It's not that funny!"

"The hell…it…isn't!" he gasped between gasps for breath and chuckles.

"Fine if you feel that way, then I guess you'll be sleeping somewhere else." Zechs snapped, completely forgetting about the people on the line who could see and hear everything.

"Now, pet, it was only a joke." Treize said as he pulled the platinum blond into his lap and kissed him until he was relaxed enough to snuggle against him.

_ _

_'Um, Uncle? Would you like me to let you go?'_ Mina said slowly as she goggled at them. Her voice caught both men's attention and they blushed bright red as they caught sight of the five people watching them through the screen. Mina and Quatre had been pushed down by two long haired guys with their hair in long braids, the one with brown hair looking shocked and the one with black just looking interested. Beside the quartet was a younger girl who was also starring at them in surprise, though neither man could see any revulsion on any of their faces. The two girls and Quatre were blushing, but not in disgust, just embarrassment that they had seen a privet moment.

"Um, Mina, can we talk another time?" Treize said, his face still bright red.

_'Well, I'm coming out to see you in two days at your England Base, so we'll talk more then.'_ Mina said and her uncle nodded. After exchanging fair wells, they hung up and the two men looked at each other for a minute before Zechs groaned and snuggled closer to Treize while burying his face in his neck.

"I can believe that we forgot that we were on the phone with my niece." Treize groan and Zechs nodded against his neck before suddenly straightening. 

"She's going to be here on my birthday. Now what are we going to do?"

"We'll talk to her when she gets here and still go to the privet concert."

They were quiet for a moment before Zechs said quietly, "I just hope the Gundam pilots don't find out about this."

"They're what?!" Wufei and Heero shouted together when they found out about Treize and Zechs' preferences.

"They're gay." Duo said cheerfully then looked thoughtful as he added, "They do make a cute couple, though."

"What?!" Wufei screamed, looking like he was about to have a heart attack. Heero didn't look much better as he was white as a sheet and looked like he was going to faint at any moment.

"They and Haruka and Michiru are all together in our time and they're all very happy." Triton said as he watched from he couch next to Trowa, Quatre and Tai.Ami, Lita, Mina, and Hotaru were on another couch. Duo was sitting with his legs thrown over on arm of his over stuffed armchair and Wufei and Heero were in chairs near him as they were the only places left to sit.

"I don't see what the problem is." Hotaru said from her seat. "There is nothing wrong in liking someone that is the same sex as you. Haruka and Michiru both tried to date men but it just didn't work out that way. It's not like it affects you, does it? That's like saying my relationship with Duo affects Quatre."

"Don't worry about it. They're just not used to having their narrow minded world rocked by something that isn't in their perfect plan." Duo said as he stretched and yawned hugely. 

"Quatre, would you like to come with me when I go see uncle Treize?" Mina asked and he nodded silently. Her question, however, snapped Heero and Wufei out of their shock.

"Go see Treize?" Heero repeatedwhile Wufei screamed, "Uncle Treize?!"

"Yes, and could you stop screaming, Wufei? It's getting annoying." Mina said as she cast an exasperated glance as the Chinese pilot.

"Sure. When do we leave?" Quatre asked.

"In the morning. I'll take care of everything so don't worry. Just pack enough clothes for about three or four days and don't bother with guns or anything."

"Why?" came from three different directions, none from Quatre.

"Because, I can just transform. Then I have two really big swords and magic." Quatre said simply, as if talking to two year olds.

Soon after that, everyone went their own way to do what they wanted and Quatre and Mina started to pack.

"I'm so tired." Duo said the next morning as everyone gathered at the airport to see them off. 

"Then you should have gone to sleep before three o'clock this morning." Quatre said with a gentle smile at the braided pilot.

"I know but that was when all the good anime came on for some reason." Duo complained as he yawned.

"Have a good trip you two." Ranma said as the last call came for passenger to board the plane.

"Bring me back a present!" Serena said cheerfully as the others sweat dropped.

"Ok. Bye guys!" Mina said as she dragged Quatre on to the plane just before the door shut. They found their seats quickly in first class and the plane left soon after that. 

It was a peaceful trip with Mina sleeping or listening to music while Quatre worked on his lap top computer he had brought with him. As they landed in England, he asked her a question that had been bothering him since the night before.

"What do you think would happen to us if they found out that I am a Gundam pilot?"

"They won't."

"But if they did…"

"Then, I will transform and you will transform and teleport out of there. It's hard to do without all of the scouts, but it is possible for two people. Now, when we get off the plane, just follow me lead, ok?" She said and gave him a quick kiss before jumping up to grab their stuff from the overhead compartment.

As the exited the terminal, they saw Treize Kushrenada, along with Zechs Marquee and Lady Une waiting for them. There were also about twenty soldiers scattered around the area to ensure the safety of their leader.

"Mina, my dear. It is so good to see you again." Treize said as he approached them and kissed her hand before pulling her into a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Uncle Treize, but you didn't have to come pick us up yourself. We could have got there on our own." Mina said as he released her.

"Us?" he asked.

"Yes, I brought Quatre with me. He was so worried about me making the trip by myself, that he insisted on coming with me." She said with a smile. Taking her hint to act protective, he came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist protectively.

"Mr. Winner, it is a pleasure to meet you." Treize said and extended his hand for Quatre to shake. For a long moment, Quatre didn't move as he studied the General, before slowly reaching out to grasp his hand in a quick shake, before immediately putting it back around Mina's waist.

"Pleasures all mine." He said pleasantly, then turned to Zechs. You look different with your mask. Why wear it Mill.."

Zechs quickly cut him off. "I don't go by that name anymore. Please call me Zechs." He said.

"Ok Zechs, but why the mask?"

"It's just something that is apart of me, now." He said with a warning in his voice, to which Quatre just nodded. 

"Shall we get going?" Lady Une said coldly towards Quatre and Mina, both of who immediately stiffened and their expressions turned cold as they turned to look at the woman.

"Lady Une, I presume?" Mina said frostily.

"Yes?"

"Learn to be more graceful Lady Une, about everything. One day your attitude will end up getting you killed." Mina said ominously before turned from the shocked woman. "Uncle, shall we go pick up our bags?" she said and her uncle nodded.

"Please lead the way, Lady Une." Treize said and within ten minutes, they had their bags and were in the limo on the way to the base.

As soon as they were on the way and Lady Une was upfront with the driver, Treize said, "Why don't you tell us about the incident yesterday?" and Quatre and Mina nodded as Quatre started the story.

"I and three of my friends were on the second floor music room when I and Tai got a bad feeling from our empathic abilities. We followed the feelings to the fifth floor where we found a bunch of your soldiers torturing two of my friends. Shin was beaten up and handcuffed as he watched his brother Duo slowly being crushed."

"Crushed?' Treize repeated, one of his eyebrows arching in surprise.

"Yes. He was on his back on the floor while Commander Roseclear piled weights on his chest every time he refused to answer a question." Mina said and Treize's other eyebrow arched to join the first.

"But why would he refuse to answer the questions?" Zechs asked before Treize could.

"Would you answer any questions for somebody that just broke into your house, beat you and your brother up then tortured you? I didn't think so." He said as both men shook their heads. "Well, we got them to stop for a moment, and then they tried to do the same to us. It was lucky Mina and her friend Hotaru, who happens to be engaged to Duo, I believe, showed up. Mina stopped them while Hotaru healed Duo. One more weight and his rib cage would have collapsed." Quatre said darkly as he cuddled Mina closer to his side.

"She healed him?" both men chorused.

"Yes, she has a special power that can heal a lot of things, but it also drains her. If she uses it too much, it would kill her. So don't even think about asking her to come work for Oz. Get it?" Quatre growled dangerously.

"Excuse me?" Treize said, insulted that this kid was giving him orders.

"She is like a little sister to me, Mina, and a lot of other people and all of us would sacrifice ourselves to make sure she is all right." Quatre said quietly.

"Especially the three women she lives with. To her, she is like a daughter, and if you even attempted to do that to her, they would kill you very slowly and very painfully." Mina added in a somber tone, shocking her uncle and his lover.

"Well, if she means that much to all of you, then I won't, but I would love to meet this special you woman." Treize said in a light tone.

"That can be arranged." Mina said in a lighter tone as well. They were silent for a while and Treize spoke up as they were nearing the Base.

"Tomorrow is Zechs' birthday and we are having a privet concert preformed in the evening. I hope you don't mind if we leave you to your own devises, do you?" he said pleasantly and the teenagers shook their heads.

"No that is fine. Who is performing?"Mina asked.

"A world famous violinist by the name of Kaiou Michiru. She and her partner Tenou Haruka, who accompanies her on the piano, called and arranged to perform for me, but since it is his birthday, I decided to have them then." Treize said, then looked confused when Quatre and Mina burst out laughing. 

"Haruka and Michiru?! I can't believe it! They finally decided!" Mina gasped in between gales of laughter was she clung to Quatre for support, who was clinging to her for the same reason.

"No wonder they didn't tell anyone where they were going. I bet that they thought we wouldn't approve!" Quatre said in between his own snorts of laughter.

"Um, excuse me?" Zechs said quietly. "Would you mind telling us what is going on?"

"You'll find out tomorrow night. But I think we should come along too. Don't worry. We're friends of theirs. I'm sure they won't mind." Mina said before breaking down into laughter again.

After they were shown to their rooms, Mina went over to Quatre's to talk to him before they joined Treize and Zechs for dinner.

"Quatre, do you think, that it's a good idea to tell them about all of us?" she asked as she sat down on his bed while he was behind a changing screen, changing into his dinner clothes.

"It's not our decision. It's theirs. I'm not sure how he guys are going to take it, but I think that if we're going to survive, we need everyone we can get to fight." He said as he stepped into view. "How do I look?" he asked. He was wearing black dress pants with a white long sleeved dress shirt and a black vest.

"Great. Now how do I look?" she asked in return as she stood up and twirled around. She was wearing a gold sheath that went to the floor and had a slit almost all the way to her waist. Her hair was looses and instead of her usual red bow that she always wore in her hair, the top part was pulled back into a bun, like Sestuna's hair style, and there was a bunch of baby's breath circling it.

"You look beautiful, darling. Are you sure you want to wait until we're eighteen?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and nibbled on her bottom lip.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to wait until then." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and molded herself against him. Groaning, he captured her lips in a deep kiss as they backed up towards the bed. The back of Mina's knees hit the side and she toppled backwards on to it, bringing Quatre with her.

Just as things were starting to get hot and heavy, there was a knock on the door. Taking his lips away from her's, he yelled, "What?"

"Dinner will be served in five minutes. I was sent to escort you down to the dinning room." A servant said from the other side of the door.

"Just give me a minute." Quatre called as he reluctantly got up, bring Mina with him. Grabbing her purse, Mina hurried over to the bathroom mirror to fix her make up while he straightened his clothes. A minute later, the left the room arm in arm and gestured for the servant to lead the way.

In the dinning room, they were seated across from Zechs and Lady Une, both of whom looked unhappy at their places, with Treize at the head of the table.

"My dear, you look stunning tonight." Treize smiled as he kissed her hand.

"Thank you Uncle Treize. You look very dashing your self." And it was true. He was dressed similar to Quatre, but the vest was a silver material that brought out his cornflower blue eyes. Zechs and Lady Une were both still wearing their military uniforms, and both looked uncomfortable.

They made light conversation during the entire meal and by the end, even Quatre's cheerful disposition was strained to the breaking point with the rude attitude from Lady Une and the stress of sitting down to dinner with three of his enemies.

"Good night, Uncle Treize in was a delicious meal, but I'm tired so I think I'm going to go to bed now." Mina said as they all stood up.

"I, too, am retiring. It has been a long day." Quatre said as he and Mina turned to leave. 

"Quatre, please wait a moment. Mina, you go on a head, it will only be for a moment." Treize said and she reluctantly nodded and left.

Turning to Quatre, he said, "I don't know how far your relationship with my niece had gone, but I'm telling you now. You better not touch her in any way or your head will be mine. Understand? Good night, Quatre." 

Nodding, Quatre turned and left, leaving a surprised Zechs and Lady Une starring at their leader. That had never heard him like that before. Never.

Turning to them, Treize said, "Good night Lady Une. I will see you in the morning." 

Nodding, she turned and left to head back to her own quarters. 

Turning to Zechs, he said, "Will you accompany me for a short walk? We have much to discuss."

"Yes sir." Zechs said with a smile. Whenever he used that tone, he knew that they would end up with him in a hot tub together with champagne and strawberries. Sure enough, they ended up in the hot tub in Treize's suite, sipping the champagne and nibbling on strawberries.

Michiru woke up to find that Haruka was gone from he hotel room, but she had left a note saying that she had went to get breakfast for them. Sighing, she sat up and ran a hand through her messy hair, trying to keep it from looking like a rats rest when Haruka got back. 

As if her thoughts had summoned her, Haruka walked through the door at that moment with a brown paper bag and two cups of coffee in a cardboard carrier.

"Morning love. Breakfast is here." She said as she set her burden down on the table and gave Michiru a hug.

"Thanks." Michiru said as she sat down at the table and began buttering her croissant.

"Nervous?"

"Yes. I just hope that we're doing the right thing."

"Well, we'll find out tonight.

That night, Haruka and Michiru arrived at the Oz base in a limo that Treize had sent to their hotel for them. Michiru was wearing a simple white dress with some pearls around her neck on in her eyes. Haruka was wearing a white tuxedo and if you just glanced at them, or even stared at them for a while, you would think that they were a girl and a guy.

After they were escorted to the music room they would perform in, Michiru quietly started warming up while Haruka leaned against the piano and watched her. By eight o'clock, they were starting to be worried that they weren't going to come. But at one after eight, Treize and Zechs came through the door.

"Hello, your excellency." Michiru and Haruka said as they cursed and bowed with respect. 

"Welcome to Oz's England base. I hope the ride was satisfactory?" Treize said as they approached the two musicians. 

"It was fine." Haruka said calmly as she stared at Zechs, instinctively knowing that he was the Uranus Knight.

"I hope you don't mind, but my niece is visiting and she insisted that she and her fiancée attend. She said that you two knew them and that you wouldn't mind." Treize said as Mina and Quatre came through the door, arm and arm.

"Mina?! Quatre?!" Haruka and Michiru chorused in shock as the two blonds approached them.

"Hello Michiru. Hi Haruka. Made your decision?" Mina said with a smile at the two blushed and nodded.

"Well, all you had to do was tell me and I would have helped."

"We weren't aware that you were Treize Kushrenada's niece." Haruka said, still to shocked to do much more that stared between the General and the Sailor scout of Venus.

"While this is an absolutely interesting conversation, would someone mind telling me what is going on?" Treize interrupted dryly.

"We will explain everything after the concert." Michiru said as she turned around to pick up her violin. The others nodded and took their seats, Haruka at the piano and the others in the chairs in front of them.

Two hours later, the concert was finished and all six of them were sitting around the room, each waiting for one of the others to start talking about what was on all their minds. Finally, Haruka sighed and said, "You need to cancel this war."

"What?" Treize asked calmly as Zechs looked at her like she was crazy.

"You need to cancel this war, because you need to fight another one. One that is far more important."

"What could be more important than the future of Earth and the colonies?" Zechs asked.

"The survival of earth and the colonies." Haruka snapped at him.

"Explain yourself." Treize said flatly as he looked at the tall sailor scouts.

"I'm sure you've heard of Sailor V? you know the one who went around fighting crime in London about three years ago?" Michiru said quietly and when the two men nodded, she continued. "And I assume you've heard of the Sailor Scouts who fight monsters in Japan?" another nod, this time a little bit slower. "Well, we are part of them and so are you."

There was silence for a moment before Zechs stood up and started for the door. Quickly, Haruka jumped in front of him before he could get to the door and blocked his was. "Where do you think you are going?" she snarled at him and he snarled right back.

"I'm leaving. I won't stay here and listen to this nonsense."

Before he could shove past her, like he looked like he was going to do if she didn't move right away, Quatre said calmly, "Would you believe if we showed you some proof, Milliardo?" 

"Yes, if there was proof, but there is none and I told you not to call me that anymore." Zechs snapped angrily at him.

Before he could try to leave again, Quatre said calmly, "Mina, Haruka, Michiru, transform."

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Neptune Crystal Power!"

"Uranus Crystal Power!"

As the room was filled with bright, flashing colors, Quatre watched calmly as Treize and Zechs almost fainted at the shock of seeing three people transform into people they had only heard about before.

"What the…!" Zechs gasped as he stared sailor Uranus. Slowly, he turned around and stared at the other two scouts, who stared at Treize and himself also.

"Mina?" Treize said as he stared at Sailor Venus.

"Yes Uncle Treize?" 

"How long has this been going on?" he asked as she studied her outfit.

"For about three and a half years. I started when I was thirteen and living in London. I was called Sailor V then because we hadn't found the other scouts yet. I became Sailor Venus when we moved to Jubaan. The inner scouts were already awake and Sailor Pluto guarded the time gates. The rest of the outer scouts woke up last year and now our knights are waking up."

"Wait, wait, wait. Inners, outers, time gates, Knights? You have to explain these thing to us." Treize protested and Zechs nodded in agreement.

"The inners are the scouts from the moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus. The outers are from Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Pluto. The time gates are the passageway through time and only Sailor Pluto and Pluto Knight can control it. And the knights are them men that protect the Sailor Scouts." Zechs and Treize turned to Quatre in surprise after he finished speaking.

"And how did you know that?" Zechs asked the first to get his voice back after surprise had stolen it. Wordlessly, Quatre transformed into Venus Knight and took his place next to Sailor Venus.

"Because I'm Venus Knight." He said calmly and Zechs suddenly sat down hard on one of the chairs nearby. Treize also sat, but far more gently then his longhaired friend. It took him a few minutes before he could ask, "So how does this concern us?"

"It concerns you, because the both of you are Knights as well." Sailor Neptune said as she looked at the shorthaired general in the eyes.

"Uh…" was all Zechs could manage as he stared at her, and then turned back to Uranus. He looked her over, taking in the skimpy outfit and the boyish haircut, before saying in a calm voice. "So let me guess. By the way you're looking at me, I'd say that I was Uranus Knight." 

"Correct. I don't like it but that's who you are." Uranus snarled at the surprised man.

"Then I guess I would be Neptune Knight." Treize said as Zechs and Uranus started arguing.

"Yes. I don't know what to think about it right now though." Neptune said and he nodded. Turning, they watched their lovers continuing to fight, their language getting worse and worse as the minutes flew by.

"Are they always like this?" Venus K. asked out loud, though it was mostly to himself.

"Yes." Neptune and Treize chorused in resigned voices and the entire group sweat dropped. Turning towards the sailor scout he had sworn to protect in the Silver Millennium, Treize said quietly, "So what happens now?"

"Now, we wake up your memories and powers." Haruka said as she dragged Zechs back over to the others and tossed him onto the couch next to Treize. Walking up to Michiru, she wrapped her arms around her and Michiru snuggled against Haruka's taller form.

Starring at them, Treize and Zechs snuggled up together in a subconscious effort to be near something they were used to.

"You know," Mina said into the silence, "You four make the most perfect pairings. I mean, Haruka and Michiru are together, the same as Uncle Treize and Zechs." The two couples stared at her for a moment before turning incredulous gazes at each other.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about your partners going after your partner." Quatre said with a small blush.

"Um, whatever. Lets just get this over with." Haruka said as she approached Zechs while Michiru went up to Treize. Putting their hands on their temples, the girls started glowing in their colors, while their Knights glowed right along with them. It only took a few minutes, and when it was done, all four slumped on the couch together in a tangle of arms, legs, and bodies.

"Wow, what a rush." Zechs said and the others just looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Uncle Treize, are you going to call off the war with the space colonies?" Mina asked as she powered down.

"Yes, I think I have too." Treize said as he wiggled out from under the other three. "But what am I going to say to convince them that it's really over?"

"How about calling a temporary cease fire and organize a few meetings with the leaders of the space colonies. Then, it's just a simple thing to come to an agreement. It doesn't have to be total disarmament, but there must be peace." Quatre said and Mina nodded.

"That might work." Zechs said quietly and Treize quickly headed over to the phone in the corner of the room. Just before he picked it up, though, Michiru aid quickly, "You can't tell anyone about the scouts or the knights, including Lady Une."

Treize just nodded as he picked up the phone and gave a few orders to the person on the other end. As soon as the general had come back over to them, Quatre handed him a piece of paper with an address and a number on it.

"This is where you can reach me and most of the other knights. It's one of my family estates, the same one, actually, that your men broke into." Quatre said dryly and Mina elbowed him in his side for bring it up again.

Going up to her uncle, Mina gave him a quick hug and kiss before dragging Quatre out of the room saying, "We'll see you in a couple days Uncle, but we need to get back to the others and tell them what's going on and incase the enemy attacks again."

"Goodbye gentlemen." Quatre said quickly before they disappeared out the door. As he was dragged down the hall, he snapped at her, what is wrong?"

"What's wrong? You were harping on my uncle because his men when to far, can't you just leave him alone about it?" she snapped back.

"I wasn't harping at him!" he exclaimed as she pulled him around a corner, almost careening in a servant that Treize had sent to escort them where ever they wanted. 

As they headed back to their own rooms, Mina said quietly, "I'm sorry for blowing up at you. It's just that, my friends used to make fun of me and my uncle for a lot of little things and I guess I was just taking it out on you." She said and he nodded as he gave her a quick hug before she turned and went into her room.

"Ranma, you look a lot better than when you got here." Irene said as she put dinner on the table in front of her family and Ryoga.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better too. Ryoga's been helping me workout since he got here." Ranma said with a smile at his aunt.

"Really? That's wonderful!" she said, turning to the boy in the bandana sitting across the table from Ranma.

"I don't really do that much. I just exercise with him. He already knows everything about the art. So I don't have to train him." Ryoga said with a blush, then added quietly, "Thanks for letting me stay here for so long."

"That's ok, Ryoga. Any friend of Ranma's is welcome here anytime." Ken said as he handed the mash potatoes to Serena.

"Thanks, but I'm going to have to leave soon. I want to see Akari and I promised that I would try and get home so pick up the mail this month." Ryoga said as he picked at his food.

The others were well versed in his bad directions and nodded in understanding as they resumed their dinner. Unknown to them, not far away, a girl on a huge sumo pig were making her way towards Jubaan in search of her missing boyfriend.

I know what you're thinking, this chapter was almost twice as long as the others, and for that, I'm sorry. I just kept typing and typing and before I know it, it was 18 pages instead of my usual 10. and this author's not now makes it 19. -.- hopefully the next chapter won't be as long. Thanks for reading all of this and I hope to have the next out soon.

Ja ne

Shinigami-chan


	10. Tradgedy

Ranma ½: Death of Happiness

Tragedy

***************

Chapter 10

***************

Akari was tired. She had been traveling for a week, looking for Ryoga, 

whom she hadn't seen in over a month. Her first stop in her attempt to 

find her boyfriend, was a quick stop at the Tendo dojo…

***************

Flashback

***************

"Hello Akari. How may I help you?" Kasumi said pleasantly as she 

escorted the younger girl into the living room. No one else was there at 

the moment so Akari felt more at ease as they sat down and sipped some 

tea together.

"I'm looking for Ryoga, Kasumi, and I know that he used to come here and 

fight Ranma a lot. So I was wondering if you would know, perhaps, which 

direction he had been heading in the last time you say him and when that 

was." Akari said as she put her cup back on the table.

"I understand." Kasumi said with a smile before she continued. "He was 

here about three weeks ago and he didn't stay for very long. I believe 

he finally figured out that he didn't love Akane as much as he had 

thought. I'm not sure where he was going, but he headed towards Jubaan. 

You might want to go to where Ranma will be staying in a few weeks. It's 

his aunt's house and they will be picking him up in a week or two."

"But, why would I go to where Ranma is? It's Ryoga I want." Akari said 

confused.

"Because Ryoga some how always finds Ranma, no matter where they go. He 

may get lost on the way, but he always ends up with Ranma." Kasumi said 

and handed her an address.

"Here is the address. Just go there in a couple weeks and Ryoga will 

probably be there." 

***************

End Flashback.

***************

"Well, here we are, Juuban." Akari said as she and her pig stopped at 

the edge of a large park at the edge of the Jubaan shopping district. 

"We might as well camp here for the night before we head towards Ranma's 

new place."

She quickly set up a small campsite and started a small fire. As she 

cooked a small meal for herself and prepared something for her pig, she 

failed to notice as a figure appeared behind her, just outside of the 

ring of light from the fire.

Ryoga reluctantly laid back on the bed in Ranma's room. He had let 

himself be convinced to stay for the rest of the week to help train the 

others, telling himself that it would be too much work to train someone 

else up to his level to fight with. Already Ranma has twice as strong as 

when they had first started his retraining, and at the rate they were 

going, he would be as good as before the accident in another week or 

two.

"Thanks for staying Ryoga." Ranma said quietly from the other bed across 

the room.

"No problem." Ryoga said and then turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked worriedly. It was very rare that Ryoga was 

this quiet and contemplative. 

"I don't know. Just a bad feeling, I guess. Like something was going to 

happen very soon."

"Things have been very quiet lately. No new attacks or anything." Ranma 

said and suddenly the communicator that Luna had given to all the new 

knights, well, Serena had given him his, started to beep. Grabbing it, 

he opened the lid and found Rei's face on the small screen.

_'Everyone! Get to the park as soon as you can. There is another attack.'_

She snapped and turned her communicator off as she went to follow her 

own directions.

"You want to come?" Ranma asked Ryoga as he got up and the lost boy 

nodded. Ranma quickly and silently transformed into Jupiter Knight and 

jumped out the window.

Ryoga wiggled into his clothes and scooped up his pack in case he got 

lost on the way there or on the way back and followed Jupiter K. out the 

window. Serena and Rini joined them a moment later as Sailor Moon and 

Sailor Chibi Moon and the four of them ran down the street. As the 

approached the park, they were joined by Sailors Mercury and Saturn, and 

the two Saturn Knights who had been spending the night with Hotaru since 

no one else had been home, Chibi-Mercury K., and Tuxedo Mask.

The arrived at the park to see, Sailor Mars, Mars K., Mercury K., Chibi-

Mars K., and Chibi-Venus K already there. Sailor Pluto, Pluto K., and 

Chibi-Pluto K. appeared a moment later from a portal from the time 

gates. Everyone then turned towards the monster and it's victim.

"No…Akari!!!" Ryoga screamed as he got a good look at the person. 

Rushing forward, he landed a crushing blow on the monster's face and 

scooped her up as it dropped her. As he retreated with his precious 

burden, the others jumped forward to try and destroy the monster that 

looked like a tree.

"Akari? Akari, can you hear me?!" he demanded as he put her down a safe 

distance from the fight. Saturn was there as well to heal her, but Akari 

was too far-gone. She only had enough strength to smile as him briefly, 

before the last of her energy was drained and she died quietly in his 

arms.

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" he screamed as he held her close to 

his chest, tears running down his face. Saturn was also crying silently 

as she realized that there was nothing that she could do. 

The entire fight had come to a stop at his heart broken wail as the 

others stared at him in shock. Never had any of them ever heard anything 

that full of pain and sorrow. Even the monster was frozen as it watched 

the boy rock back and forth slightly as he wailed his grief to the 

heavens.

Gently, Ryoga placed her body on the round and stood up. A sickly green 

aura surrounded him, faster and bigger than Ranma had ever seen before. 

As Ryoga turned around to glare at the monster, he whispered, "You have 

taken everything from me. I have nothing left." Rising his hands, a ball 

of the green aura filled it, growing bigger, and bigger until it had to 

be almost four feet in diameter. "I'll make you pay for this. Shi Shi 

Hokodan!" he screamed the last three words as he released the ball of ki 

at the startled monster. 

The creature screamed as it disintegrated, leaving nothing behind but a 

pile of scorched wood dust that disappeared after a moment. Ebonite 

quietly disappeared from his hiding spot before any of the others could 

discover him. He had to report this new fighter to his queen.

"Ryoga? Are you all right?" Ranma asked as he detransformed and went to 

where his friend had slumped to the ground, tired from using that much 

energy in his attack.

Ignoring him, Ryoga pushed himself to his feet and wearily turned back 

to Akari's still form. Brushing back her hair from her pale face, he let 

a few more tears slip down his face before he reached into his pack, 

which was right next to him and pulled out a small black box. Most of 

the people there gasped as they realized what it was. Opening the box, 

he pulled out a diamond ring and slipped it on Akari's ring finger 

before standing up.

"This is…all your…fault Ranma." He said softly and turned murderous eyes 

towards the startled pigtailed boy.

"What?!"

"You heard me. If you hadn't convinced me to stay and help you train, it 

you hadn't been so selfish, I would have been free to find Akari. She 

wouldn't have come here and she wouldn't have been mixed up in one of 

your battles. She's dead because of you, Ranma, and I can never forgive 

you for that. The next time I see you, you die." He said and turned 

towards Akari's small camp. 

He packed it up quickly and found the sumo pig where it had been knocked 

out when the monster had first arrived. Waking it up, he loaded it with 

her things before turning back to the others. "Sailor Pluto. Transport 

me to Akari's home. I know you can do that." He said coldly and she 

nodded. Shouldering his pack, he picked up Akari's body and followed the 

time scout into a portal, the pig bringing up the rear of the train.

The two Pluto knights stayed behind to give him some privacy and they 

watched silently as the portal closed before turning towards the others. 

Everyone had detransformed by then and were standing in little groups.

Duo, Hotaru, Shin, Darien, Serena, Rini, and Lita were gathered around a 

white-faced Ranma, trying to convince him that it wasn't his fault. Ami, 

Heero, and Odin were standing near them. Wufei, Rei and Matt were 

standing a little bit away from them and Tai was standing alone near a 

large tree. Quickly, Trowa and Triton changed back and headed towards 

the small blond who looked like he was a bout to break down in tears.

As soon as they reached him, he lunged into Trowa's arms and started 

crying as the taller man started trying to comfort him.

In the time gates, Sailor Pluto turned towards the angry teen behind her 

and sighed. It was a tragedy that his girlfriend had died and she could 

understand his anger, but she wasn't sure what to do to help him.

"Open the portal already." He snapped at her as he cuddled Akari's body 

closer to his chest.

"It wasn't Ranma's fault, you know." She said and he glared at her. 

Seeing that he wouldn't believe her, she summoned a view screen from the 

time stream and showed him what would've happened if he hadn't met up 

with Ranma at the arcade. He watched silently as the him in the screen 

wandered around, ending up in Russia with Akari still searching for him. 

He saw he go to the Tendo dojo and talk to Kasumi and then head towards 

Jubaan, searching for him a long the way. Then he saw the fight in which 

she was still killed, but the monster also killed several more people 

before finally being defeated by a powerful attack from Sailor Moon.

"See? She still would've died, but many others would also have died 

along with her." Pluto said softly as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"What I see is that it really was his fault. She was going to his house 

to find me. HIS house! I will never for give him so why don't you just 

open the portal before I get mad and throw a Shi Shi Hokodan at you?" he 

snarled as he held out a hand, which began to fill with green energy.

Wordlessly, she opened a portal and gestured him through it. He, his 

burden, and the sumo pig, disappeared into it and appeared at the front 

of the pig farm that Akari and her family ran.

"Good luck, Ryoga." She said softly as she closed the portal and opened 

another one back to the Jubaan Park.

"It's all my fault." Ranma whispered as he sat down on the hard ground, 

and stared at his hands. 

"It's not your fault." Duo said firmly and the others surrounding them 

nodded.

"Yes it is. If he hadn't stayed to help me, then he would have found her 

before she came here to find him got killed. I kept him here, it's my 

fault." Ranma said as he bowed his head.

"Did you tell her to come here? Did you send the monster? Did you force 

Ryoga to stay here? No to all three." Duo snapped. "She came of her own 

free will, Ebonite sent the monster, and Ryoga stayed as a form of 

apology for what he's done to you in the past. If he had really wanted 

to, he would have left already."

"It's still my fault." Ranma said stubbornly.

"It wasn't your fault, just like it wasn't Heero's when he accidentally 

killed a bunch of people who were working towards peace." Duo said 

firmly. Ranma's head shot up to stare at him, along with most of the 

people who could hear him.

"What?" Hotaru asked as she tugged on one of Duo's arms.

"We were given false information along with our orders and in fulfilling 

them, he accidentally killed Noventa and those other guys. It wasn't his 

fault, but it also doesn't change that fact that those people are dead." 

Duo said then turned his attention to the ground. Quietly, he said, "I 

blamed myself for a long time about the destruction of the Maxwell 

church. If I had only got the mobile suit faster, tried harder, they 

wouldn't be dead. But I recently came to grips with the fact that I 

would have just ended up dead too, protecting the church."

"That wasn't your fault! You couldn't know that the Alliance would do 

that." Ranma protested as he stared up at the braided teenager.

"Yes, I know that now. But you couldn't have know that she was coming or 

that Ebonite would attack her, either." Duo said quietly and Ranma 

reluctantly nodded.

"He is right, you know." Sestuna said from behind them and everyone 

turned to look at her. She had detransformed after exiting the portal 

and now was dressed in a purple dress that hugged her figure. Trowa came 

up behind her, followed by Tai and Triton, and wrapped his arms around 

her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder as he stared at the group 

in front of them.

"I showed Ryoga a timeline of what would have happened if he had never 

met up with all of you. Basically, he would be in Russia and she still 

would have come here and would still have been killed, but in that 

timeline, a bunch of others would have died as well." Sestuna said and 

Trowa hugged her tighter.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Rei said, "I think that everyone 

should go home for now. We'll talk about it tomorrow at the scout 

meeting at the temple. Be there by twelve o'clock." Nodding, the others 

turned and headed for their homes. Sestuna invited Trowa, Triton, and 

Tai to come stay at the house with her, Hotaru, and Hotaru's guests. Rei 

invited Matt and Wufei to stay at the temple and Darien invited Heero to 

stay with him and Odin. Knowing that Ranma couldn't stay with her 

without raising suspicions, Lita asked Ami to stay at her apartment.

That being decided, everyone went their own way, with Rini and Serena 

walking on either side of Ranma, both holding his hands as they headed 

back towards their home.

In the morning at breakfast, Ranma dropped a bombshell on his family. 

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make." He said as he sat down at 

the table.

"What's that dear, and where is Ryoga? I hope he didn't get lost again." 

Irene said as she put some miso soup in front of everyone.

"He didn't get lost. He left late last night." Ranma started but paused 

for a moment before continuing. He and his cousins had come up with a 

story last night on the way home about why Ryoga had left. "His fiancée, 

Akari, was killed last night. He went to go tell her family."

"How do you know that? And how did he find out about her?" Ken asked.

"We felt that something was going to happen and were feeling restless so 

we went out for a while to get some air and we ended up at the park. 

There we saw a tree monster attack her, so we stepped in to stop it and 

I got hurt. Ryoga took it out in one blast, but it was to late for her. 

The scouts had arrived just before he took it out and Saturn tried to 

heal Akari, but she was already gone. The scouts transported her body 

and Ryoga to her home while Saturn worked on me. She completely healed 

my back and I'm 100% healthy again, so for my announcement, I'm leaving 

to get an apartment of my own." Ranma said and concentrated on his food, 

while the others stared at him.

"But, why? I thought you were happy here." Irene said quietly, a few 

tears gathering in her eyes.

"I have been. All of you have been great, but I don't want to freeload 

off of you guys forever, and now that I'm all better, I don't have the 

excuse of my injuries to keep me here. I was planning on getting an 

apartment near here so that I could be close to you guys and I noticed 

that there were a lot of job opening around the business district." He 

said and smiled timidly at his aunt and uncle. 

"Were are you going to get the money for an apartment? Ken asked.

"I have some saved up in an account in the bank of Tokyo, and there 

should be enough in there for a couple months rent, plus some 

necessities that I'll need to get, like a futon, a refrigerator, a 

couch and couple other odds and ends." Ranma said and poked at his food 

for a little bit, before putting down his chopsticks and stood up. That 

was when the others realized that he wasn't wearing his braces or had 

his crutches nearby.

"Excuse me. I'm going to start looking for a place to stay." He said and 

turned towards the living room where the morning paper was waiting.     

_'What?!'_ Mina screeched over the phone as Serena held it away from her 

ear in pain.

"You heard me. Ranma is moving out and Ryoga's fiancée was killed." She 

repeated as he brought the phone back to her poor abused ear.

_'We're only about an hour away from the Tokyo airport so we'll be there _

_in about an hour and a half.'_ Mina said, then exchanged farewells with 

Serena before they hung up.

"What's going to happen between Ranma and Ryoga the next time they 

meet?" Rini asked quietly in the silence after Serena had hung up.

"I don't know, but hopefully, they'll be able to work out heir 

differences without killing each other. I know that Ranma wouldn't be 

able to live with himself if e did anything to Ryoga, but I think that 

Ryoga is serious about what he said before he left." Serena said and 

Luna nodded from where she sat on the bed next to the two girls. They 

had retired there after Ranma had begun his search for his new apartment 

to let the others know what was going on. Just as Serena had finished 

calling the others that were still in town, Mina had called from the 

plane as she and Quatre were nearing home. She had promised she would 

tell Haruka, Michiru and the three knights what had happened.

"I just hope that everything works out." Serena sighed as she clasped a 

pillow to her chest.

An hour and a half later, Mina and Quatre rang the doorbell and were 

immediately ushered inside by Serena. As soon as they were in her room, 

Serena explained everything and at the end of the story, Quatre shook 

his head.

"They seemed so close. How could Ryoga mean that?" he asked and Serena 

spoke up, as she was more familiar with Ranma and Ryoga's past than 

anyone else there. 

"Ranma and Ryoga went to jr. high together years ago and they were 

always fighting because Ranma would always bet the last bread of the day 

before Ryoga could and Ryoga decided that Ranma had slighted his honor. 

So he challenged Ranma to an honor dual. Ranma waited three days for him 

behind Ryoga's house, but because of his bad direction, Ryoga got there 

on the fourth day after Ranma had left to continue his training journey. 

He followed him to China where something happened. I'm not sure what 

happened to him, but because of it, he decided that he had to kill Ranma 

because it was Ranma's fault. In Nerima, he was always trying to kill 

him, but they were also friends to a certain extent. Now, it's going to 

be just like it was then, but now, Ryoga doesn't consider Ranma his 

friend anymore." She finished quietly.

"This is horrible." Mina said as she hugged one of the stuffed toys to 

her chest.

"I just hope that both of them make it through this." Quatre said 

quietly and the others could only nod in agreement. 

After a moment of silence, Serena spoke up again in an attempt to change 

the subject. "So, what happened in England. Did you get that guy in 

trouble?"

"Yes, and I have more news, too!" Mina exclaimed, glad they weren't 

talking about Ranma and Ryoga anymore. "Uranus and Neptune Knights will 

be joining us in a few days and the war is over!"

"What? Really?!" Serena exclaimed happily.

"Really. While we were there, Haruka and Michiru arrived there and told 

them and restored their memories." Quatre said with a smile at the two 

bubbly blonds in front of him. "They are having peace talks with the 

colony leaders right now and then, when the matter is settled, the four 

of them are coming here. They should be here in a couple days."

"That is so cool! We have to call a scout and knight meeting at the 

temple as soon as possible." Serena said as she opened her communicator 

and called the others, who agreed to meet them there at twelve.

"Well, I think I want to get back to the house and see what happened 

there since we were gone." Quatre said as he stood up with a smile on 

his face.

"Yeah, and I want to check in with Artemis." Mina said as she stood up 

as well. Exchanging goodbyes, they left and Serena went in search of 

Luna to talk to.

Far away in America, a teenage girl with long brown hair with green 

streaks died though out the huge mass and brilliant blue eyes, entered 

an airport wearing baggy black jeans and a black tank top with the 

picture of an angel with black wings that had the words "Fallen Angel" 

above it. She was carrying a backpack and two suitcases as she hurried 

over to the desk to have her suitcases put on the plane.

Within fifteen minutes, she was at the gate leading to the plane, which 

would bring here to Tokyo, Japan. 'Just a little bit longer and then I 

will have my revenge.' She thought as she settled into her seat with her 

bag in the seat next to here. There was barely anyone on this flight as 

it was at two o'clock in the morning and those that were around here 

were already going to sleep. 

After the plane had lifted off and she was sure that no one else around 

here was going to wake up, she turned to her bag and unzipped it.

"It's about time!" a voice said from the bag as something popped it's 

head out to look at the girl, who showed no surprise at having a 

miniature fire dragon that talked, pop out of her bag.

"I'm sorry, but I had to make sure that no one else was awake around us 

before I let you out, Terra." The girl said as she watched the dragon 

wiggle out of the opening and settled around her neck.

"How long is this flight?" the dragon, which happened to be male, asked 

quietly.

"About six hours, I think. It will be about two o'clock a.m. when we get 

there, so we should get some sleep."

"I agree, but you must remember, they probably won't accept you 

immediately. They don't take well to strangers who show up, knowing all 

about them while they don't know anything about the newbe."

"I guess, but I have to get my revenge, no matter what. I care if they 

don't trust me. That isn't part of the plan."

"What ever, just go to sleep. You are going to need to get some rest if 

you plan on being aware when we get there." Terra sighed as he closed 

his eyes. "Good night, Lilly."

"Night Terra." Lilly said as she reclined the back of her seat and 

closed her eyes.

****

TBC


	11. memories part 1 - Saturn and Mercury

A couple people have asked for various flashbacks of different couples 

during the sliver millennium. That is what is going to happen during 

this section. There will be flashbacks of how each couple met, except 

for Mars and Pluto, because I already did those. I will also do 

flashbacks of battles, how they fell in love and their deaths, besides 

Duo and Hotaru because I have already done their deaths. I will also do 

memories for Lilly and Terra. There will be a couple parts of Memories, 

I'm not sure how many, but five or under so I'm warning everyone now, it 

will be a while before the story goes any further. In chapter 15 or 16 

or so, it will pick up with when Lilly gets there and then I'll do her 

memories in the chapter after that, or maybe even in the same one. I'm 

not sure. But these chapters are going to be long, I'm warning you now. 

Write me and tell me what you think of these histories. Now, here they 

are. 

Ranma ½: Life, Love, and Death

Memories part 1

Saturn and Mercury

***************

Chapter 11

***************

"…so that's what's happening with the others. They should be back in a 

couple days." Mina said as she finished explaining everything to the 

others at the scout meeting.

"Well, I just hope that there aren't any more attacks before they get 

back." Sestuna said as she leaned back against Trowa's chest. She was 

currently sitting on his lap while he was sitting on the floor, leaning 

back against the wall to Rei's room.

"We could handle it." Heero said coldly. He and Ami were sitting next to 

each other on the bed with Quatre and Mina sitting next to them, 

cuddling.

"Self-destructing to win doesn't count as being able to handle it and 

you know that you would do that to stop an attack." Duo said from his 

place next to Sestuna and Trowa, with Hotaru curled up in his lap. Lita 

was sitting next to him with Ranma further away in the corner of the 

room, away from everyone. Serena, Rini, and Darien were sitting together near the bed. Wufei and Rei were on opposite sides of the room, pointedly ignoring each other, and the five Chibi-knights were clustered 

around the table, pigging out on snacks and looking at Rei's picture 

albums, not really paying to much attention to what was going on around 

them.

Heero didn't bother to respond to Duo, but merely settled for glaring at 

him.

"Enough with the glare." Duo said with a grin as he cuddled Hotaru 

closer. Turning to Ranma, he asked, "Are we having our training session 

today?"

"No. I have to check out some apartments." Ranma said emotionlessly as 

he looked at the braided Knight.

"When will the next one be then?"

"When I get my own place and get a job, we will figure out when we can 

do it. Until then, you practice on your own. You know at least one kata 

and you can run without my help." Ranma said, then stood up and left, 

saying goodbye in a soft voice just before he slid the door closed 

behind him.

"Well, I guess this meeting is over." Serena said and the others nodded 

slowly.

"I have chores to do." Rei said as she too headed for the door. "I have 

to do all of Chad's chores too."

"Why? Where's Chad?" Mina asked, looking at her in concern.

"We don't know. He just disappeared the night that we gave the knights 

back their memories. He just vanished. We know he didn't leave because 

all his things are still here, including his wallet and money." Rei said 

as she paused by the door. "I wish I knew what happened to him." She 

sighed as she left, calling over her shoulder, "You guys can stay or go, 

but please get out of my room."

Almost everyone decided to leave, the exceptions being Tai, Wufei, and 

Serena, who wanted to talk to Rei as she worked.

Duo and Hotaru ended up walking alone together in the park, just 

enjoying being with each other. Hotaru broke the silence after a while. 

"Duo, will you tell me about how we met? I can't remember too much of 

when we were together during the silver millennium." She said quietly 

and he nodded as they sat down together on a bench that over looked the 

lake.

"We meet before I became your knight…" Duo began.

***************

Flashback

***************

"Come back here, thief!" a soldier shouted as he ran down the halls of 

the Saturn Palace. He was chasing a young boy about eight as he ran away 

from him.

The child was dressed in rags and extremely dirty and he was carrying a 

loaf of bread and a couple pieces of fruit. Turning he cast as quick 

look over his shoulder at the guard, as he increased his speed. Because 

he was looking behind him, he missed seeing one of the doors to the 

hallway open and a little girl dressed in a fancy purple dress step out 

to see what all the shouting was about. 

He slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground. "Ow…" he said as 

he sat up, holding his head where he had banged it against the floor. 

Looking up, he saw the surprised girl's face, and froze for a moment 

before he shot to his feet and reached down to grab the food while he 

said quickly, "I'm sorry, but I got to go."

She stared at him as he stood up and started running, but a huge arm 

shot out and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him backwards. "What…?" she 

managed to gasp as she got her breath back from when she had lost it 

upon impact with the hard ground.

"Hey, ouch! Let me, go! OW!" the boy shouted as the guard twisted his 

arm behind his back.

"What's going on?" she finally managed to say.

"I'm sorry, your highness, but the street rat broke into the kitchen and 

stole some food." The guard said as he bowed to her, not loosing his 

grip on the boy at all.

"I need to eat too, ya know! And it's not our fault we don't have anyone 

to look out for us except oursel…OW!!!" the boy screamed as the guard 

tightened his grip on his arm roughly.

"Please excuse us. I need to take him to the dungeon. Good day, Princess 

Hotaru." The guard said as he bowed again before turning away and 

dragging the boy along.

They were gone before Hotaru could say anything. Looking down, she saw 

the loaf of bread and the two apples on the floor and she picked them up 

slowly. She wasn't sure why, but that boy had felt familiar to her, as 

if he was an old friend she hadn't seen in a long time, but she knew she 

had never seen him before. Sighing, she turned to go back into her room, 

when something told her that she had to go see the boy immediately.

She had learned to trust her feelings, so she immediately rushed after 

the guard and the boy, hoping that nothing bad would happen to him 

before she got there. There had been some rumors going around that some 

of the dungeon guards liked to torture prisoners for the smallest things 

and she had a feeling that the huge guard that had just dragged the boy 

down there was one of them.

The closer and closer she got to the dungeon, though, the more the 

feeling of wrongness intensified until she was shaking as she descended 

the steps that led to it. As she crept down the last few steps and 

peeked around the corner, a sudden scream sent her tripping backwards 

until she fell as her foot hit the bottom step. 

The scream trailed off and she gathered her courage to look around the 

corner. What she saw, froze her blood in shock and horror. 

Two guards were hold the boy up by his arms while a third beat him about 

the face and another one was behind the boy, raping him. That was what 

had caused him to scream. Now he just hung there, tears streaming down 

his face and he fought to keep the screams from emerging from his mouth. 

All that were coming out were tiny whimpers that seemed to encourage the 

guard behind him. The guard picked up the pace as he pounded into him 

until, suddenly, he threw back his head with a roar of completion.

As he drew out of the boy, Hotaru could see blood on him with even more 

dripping onto the ground from the boy. She watched in horror as the 

guard traded places with one of the men hold his arms while the man that 

had been beating him now lowered his pants and shoved himself into the 

boy's mouth, causing him to choke as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. 

When the man behind shoved into him again, his eyes flew open as another 

muffled scream tried to work its way out around the cock in his mouth.

His pain filled violet eyes locked with Hotaru's horrified ones and 

seemed to convey the message of 'HELP!' to her. Abruptly she spun away 

and raced quietly up the stairs. Slipping back into the palace hallways, 

she caught sight of her mother and father as they walked down the hall 

together.

"Mommy, Daddy! Help!!" she shouted as she raced towards them.

They turned in surprise to see their daughter racing towards them with 

tears in her eyes. Quickly the King scooped her up and hugged her as she 

sobbed. "What is it, honey?" he asked concerned as she clung to him.

"You have to help him!" she wailed.

"Help who?" he asked.

"The boy the guards are hurting. He only tried to take some bread and 

apples and now they're hurting him!" she cried as she struggled to be 

let down.

"What do you mean?!" the queen gasped, horrified as Hotaru grabbed their 

hands and dragged them down the hall to the door that led down to the 

dungeon. She opened the door just as another muffled scream was wrenched 

from the boy.

Immediately the royal family rushed down the steps, but stopped in shock 

when they saw what was going on. The boy was dangling between two men as 

the other two pounded into him, causing the thin body to shake and 

shiver. He would have collapsed already if the two weren't holding him 

up and he slipped into unconsciousness as soon as he saw Hotaru and her 

parents.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the king roared, causing the four guards 

to freeze in shock. They had been so wrapped up what they were doing 

they hadn't even realized that they weren't alone anymore.

"Yo…your Majesties!" one of the men stuttered as he hurriedly pulled up 

his pants. The others also straightened their clothes, dropping the boy 

on the ground. "um…err…that is…I mean.." the guard trailed off 

uncertainly as he looked over at one of the others, who happened to be 

the one that had been chasing the boy earlier.

"You will explain yourself later." The King snapped then quickly took 

off his cape and bundled the boy into it. Carefully, he rushed up the 

stairs with his wife and daughter right behind him. 

They took him to the infirmary where Hotaru and her mother used their 

healing powers to heal him of most of the damage. However, they didn't 

have enough energy to finish healing all the bruises. He woke up after 

they had stopped to slump in their chairs and he sat up quickly and 

tried to get away from them, but only managed to end up falling off the 

bed.

As he hit the floor hard, the king leaned over him, intending to pick 

him up and put him back on the bed, but he stopped as he saw the terror 

on his face and the way he cringed. "Hotaru, will you come here, and 

help me. We need to get him back on the bed, but he seems terrified of 

me. Maybe a girl would help calm him down." The king said and she 

hurried around the corner of the bed.

As soon as he saw her, he lunged at her and grabbed her as if she was a 

lifeline and he was drowning. Clinging to her, he buried his head into 

her shoulder and started crying, though she could hear him faintly 

repeating to himself, "Boy's don't cry, boy's don't cry." She managed to 

get them both sitting on the edge of the bed, but he refused to let go 

of her, even as his tears trailed off.

"What's your name?" she whispered to him and she faintly heard him say 

Duo. The Queen wrapped a sheet around him as he was still dressed only 

in his torn rags that didn't really cover anything.

"Well Duo, would you like to stay here for a while?" the queen asked as 

she sat down next to him and he hesitantly looked at her before nodding 

slowly.

"That's wonderful. We'll have a room prepared for you near Hotaru's 

since you seem calmer near her." She said with a gentle smile and he 

smiled in return before it left his face and he buried his face in 

Hotaru's shoulder again.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"I stayed with you and your family for a couple months after that until 

one night someone came into my room and kidnapped me. I was taken to 

earth for a while and abandoned there. I eventually forgot about my time 

spent at the palace with you and your family, believing that it was all 

a big dream. I entered the Earth's army where I earned the nickname 

Shinigami." Duo said and paused to draw a breath.

It had been incredibly painful for him to talk about what had happened 

to him, but he had needed to talk about it since he had remembered it 

and she had the right to know, so it worked out for the both of them.

"That was horrible!" Hotaru exclaimed as she shuddered and leaned on 

him. 

Smiling gently, he wrapped his arms around her and said, "I know and I 

had at even worse before I went to stay with you. But our next meeting 

was much better. It was six years later and I was fourteen…"

***************

Flashback

***************

Duo was exercising when a soldier ran up to him, waving a letter at him. 

"Duo! You got a letter from someone!" the soldier shouted as he skidded 

to a stop next to Duo as finished doing his sit ups and stood up.

"Who would be sending me a letter?" he wondered out loud as he took it 

from the man. "Thanks, Kell." He said as he stared at the envelope in 

his hands.

"So open it already!" Kell exclaimed after a moment. Duo laughed 

slightly as he opened it and brought out a couple of pages.

                 Dear Duo,

I have been looking for you for the last six 

years ever since you were kidnapped from the 

Saturn Royal Palace and I have been desperately 

worried. You were my only friend for those four 

months you stayed with us and it saddened all of 

us when you disappeared. Mother had her friend 

Sailor Mars find you with the sacred fire and so 

at last I could look into your beautiful purple 

eyes and know that you would protect me.

Apparently, my protector was killed or went 

missing a long time and I have the choice of who 

I want to come protect me. I would be delighted 

if you would come and take the position, but 

even if you decided that you don't want to, 

please come back to me. I don't know how I 

survived the last six years without you and I 

want to know what has happened to you during 

this time.

I have enclosed a royal order with this letter 

so that you would be able to come and I dearly 

wish that you would use it to come back.

                        With all my love,

               Princess Hotaru of Saturn

                              Firefly

Duo stared at the letter in his hand while Kell jumped around next to 

him as he waited impatiently for information on who had sent the letter 

and what it was all about. Finally, he snatched the letter out of Duo 

hand, not that he noticed, he was in so much shock.

Looking over the letter, he caught sight of the signature at the bottom 

and almost dropped the papers in surprise. "Princess Hotaru of Saturn 

wrote you a letter?! How the hell do you know the princess of Saturn?!" 

he exclaimed, jarring Duo out of his shock and back to his friend.

"She saved my life when we were eight and I stayed with her family for a 

while." Duo snapped and Kell looked at him in shock.

"…" Kell didn't know what to say and he seemed frozen as he stared at 

Duo. Duo didn't notice, however as he turned and hurried to his room to 

pack his few possessions into a bag and then hurried in the direction of 

his superior's office.

When he had joined the earth army five years before, the commanders had 

seen potential in him and had made him into a living weapon. At the 

tender age of ten he had gone on his first mission where he had had to 

kill forty men of an opposing army in the middle of the night. They had 

turned him into a professional killer, the perfect soldier. Their 

training methods would be considered torture to everyone else, but they 

had continued to train him like that until he had almost no emotions and 

would follow every order to the letter, even killing an five year old 

little girl that had seen him come out of a tent that he had just killed 

someone. His orders had been to eliminate his target and any witnesses 

and he had followed those orders. It had driven him insane and he had 

almost killed his commander when he had returned. They put him into a 

padded room and he slowly brought him back from madness. After he had 

been deemed sane, he had been put into a special team that took care of 

special missions, and he no longer had to kill as many people anymore. 

Instead, he was doing infiltration and his team took care of any 

witnesses. While he was against killing innocents, he would do it if 

there was no other choice.

He had been surrounded by death and pain since he could remember and now 

the one person who made everything all right had sent him away to get 

back to her.

He knocked on the commander's office door and entered when bidden. "What 

is it, Shinigami?" the man said as Duo saluted him.

"I have received royal orders to go immediately to the royal palace of 

Saturn. I have come to inform you that I will be leaving within the hour 

on the first transport that I can find." Duo said as he handed over the 

paper Hotaru had sent with her letter.

"Well, it seems that I must let you go. When will you be returning to 

us?"

"I don't know. Maybe never. I have been offered a job of being Princess 

Hotaru's protector." Duo said and the commander looked at him in 

surprise.

"I see. Well then, you are dismissed."

Within moments, Duo was back outside the office and on his way to the 

transporter where he would be shipped out immediately.  The transporter 

was a machine that converted you to energy and then shipped that energy 

along a beam that led to a destination. It would take roughly about two 

minutes as it went around the speed of light. But they had schedule of 

when they ship people and things along the transporter so if you miss 

you shipment, it would be another day before there was another one as 

each destination was connected once a day because there was only the one 

machine to send things to all the planets and moons that were a part of 

the Silver Alliance.

As it turned out, he had timed it perfectly. He had only enough time to 

step onto the platform with the other people and objects being 

transported before the machine shipped them.

When he arrived, he found a beautiful girl his age with short black hair 

and violet eyes wearing a long purple and black dress waiting for him. 

He immediately knew that it was Hotaru and she immediately knew who he 

was. Gracefully, she approached him, stopping just a few feet away from 

him as he dropped his bag at his feet to bow to her. As soon as he was 

upright again, though, she discarded formalities and lunged into his 

arms.

"I'm so glad you came, Duo." She whispered against his chest. He had 

just hit a growth spurt and was now at 5'2 and he was still growing. She 

was 4'11 and so was not that much smaller than he was.

Wrapping his arms around her slowly, he whispered back, "I thought the 

time I spent with you was just a dream. I'm so happy it wasn't."

Leaning her head back a little, she looked up at him and smiled, 

uncaring that everyone else from the transport and the crew that ran it 

were standing around starring at them. After all, it's not everyday you 

see the Princess throw herself into the arms of a soldier from earth. 

"It wasn't a dream and neither is this." She said and kissed him, 

surprising everyone, including herself and Duo.

Blushing bright red, she let him go and grabbed his hand, dragging him 

after her as she hurried towards the coach that would take them back to 

the palace. Duo tossed his bag up to the coachman and settled into the 

enclosed carriage across from Hotaru. Within two minutes, she was 

sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder and they passed the 

short ride in comfortable silence, as they cuddled together.

When they emerged from the carriage at the palace, the king and Queen 

were waiting for them. The queen immediately swept him up into a hug 

while the king just settled for shaking his hand.

"It is so good to see you Duo. We were so worried about you!" the queen 

said as she hooked one arm around Duo and the other around Hotaru and 

lead them into the palace.

"It's good to see you to, Your Majesty. And I didn't mean to worry you." 

Duo said sheepishly. "I was only around eight when they kidnapped me and 

took me to earth. I couldn't get transport back or even try and send you 

a message because no one takes a child very seriously."

"That is, unfortunately, all to true. So what have you been doing since 

then? Mars found you in the Earth army! I mean, you're just so young. 

Why would you be in the army?" she said and a shadow passed over his 

face, causing the others to look at him in concern.

Seeing their worry, he waved his hand and said in a cheerful, if dark 

way, "When I was nine I went to the army commanders and applied to 

become a soldier. They don't usually do that with someone so young, but 

they said I had potential so they took me in for special training. I 

should have asked what the special training was but I was just happy 

that I wouldn't have to live on the street anymore."

"What was the special training about?" the king asked as they turned 

down a hall where his bedroom was.

"They made me into Shinigami." He said pulling away from the queen a 

little. She and the king stared at him in horror while Hotaru just 

looked confused.

"What's Shinigami?" she asked and he said softly, "The god of death."

"Well, that's perfect then if you accept the position of my guardian." 

Hotaru said with a smile at the confused boy in front of her.

"Why is it good?" he demanded, shuddering at some unpleasant memories.

"Because, I'm going to be the Sailor scout of Death, Destruction, and 

Rebirth. The Messiah of Silence."

"…what?"

"I'm going to be Sailor Saturn but Saturn Knight, my protector is gone. 

You see, the Saturn K. for the last Sailor Saturn disappeared years ago 

without a son and no one can find him, but without him or his son, I 

don't have a protector." Hotaru said quietly.

"I'll protect you until the end. I promise." Duo said as he bowed to 

her.

"I'm so glad!" she said as she threw herself into his arms to give him a 

hug.

Behind them, they heard someone clear their throat and they separated 

hastily as they realized that her parents were there, a little fact that 

had slipped both of their minds. "Well, I'm glad you're going to become 

Saturn K., but first we need to know more about you. We didn't go into 

your past the last time you were here, but I would like to get to know 

you better." The king said and the queen nodded in agreement.

Duo nodded reluctantly, then excused himself to shower and change before 

getting into his past with them, promising to meet them in the throne 

room as soon as he was done. It took him twenty minutes to finish his 

shower and another twenty minutes to towel dry his long hair. He left it 

loose to dry as he put on his clothes, which consisted of tight black 

breeches and a long sleeved white shirt with a long sleeved black tunic 

on top. He rolled the sleeves of both shirts up together so that the 

white of the undershirt was shown on the cuffs just above his elbow. He 

also put on soft back boots that made it possible for him to be 

completely silent when he moved.

Looking at the clock, he gasped as he realized that he had been getting 

ready for almost an hour and he rushed from the room, forgetting that 

his hair was still loose. As he raced soundlessly down the hall, he 

hoped that they hadn't waited there since he had went for his shower.

Pausing for a moment out side of the door, he ran his fingers through 

his hair, just then realizing that he hadn't braided it. "Damn it." He 

muttered, and then pushed the door open. Inside, the royal family was 

sitting around a small table talking. At his entrance, they looked up at 

him, though only Hotaru smiled.

"Your Majesties, I'm sorry I'm so late." He said as he bowed to them.

"It's ok, Duo. With that much hair, I guess it takes awhile to get it 

clean." Hotaru said as she motioned him to take the seat next to her's.

"It does, and I forgot to braid it before coming here. It's going to be 

a pain to brush tonight." Duo said with a wry smile as he sat down.

"I can braid it for you." she said as she jumped up from her seat. 

Within a few minutes, the huge mass of hair had been plaited, despite 

his protests that he could do it later. "There." She said as she tied 

off the end with the leather tie he had grudgingly handed her. "All 

done!"

"Thank you princess." He said with a smile as he bowed his head towards 

her respectively.

"Please stop with the bowing. We're friends right?" she demanded and he 

nodded slowly. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Where did you get 

that tattoo from? It's really neat looking."

"What tattoo?" the queen asked, finally speaking up. She wasn't sure if 

she liked the idea that her daughter's protector having tattoos.

"I don't think it's a tattoo. I've had it for as long as I can remember 

and I don't think someone would have their child tattooed before they 

were even five." Duo said as he reached up and touched the back of his 

neck under his hair. That was where it was, but he had never seen it 

before. He had had some other people tell him about it the few times he 

let anyone touch his hair and they had seen it. The first person to see 

it was Gent, another street rat he had lived with when he was five. Gent 

had always brushed out his hair for him at night before going to sleep 

and had commented on it once before he died.

"It's a glaive and a scythe crossing each other." Hotaru said and they 

looked sharply at Duo for a moment before the queen stood up and came 

around the table.

"Let me see it." She demanded and he reluctantly moved his hair away 

from his neck. Sure enough in the center of his neck was a picture of 

the Silence Glaive and a scythe crossed at the handles with the blade of 

the scythe passing behind the blade of the glaive. The detail was 

excellent and suddenly, the queen knew exactly who Duo was.

As she took her seat again, she asked him, "Duo, do you remember your 

family?"

"Not really. I remember someone with really long black hair, but that's 

about it." He said confused. "Why?"

"Well, Duo, you just confirmed a suspicion I had. You see, the protector 

of Sailor Saturn had a hereditary symbol of the Silence Glaive and the 

Death Scythe crossed. Most knights have some symbol that will identify 

they as knights, but not all of them are in the same place. The previous 

Saturn K. had it on his shoulder and the one before him had it at the 

base of his spine on the small of his back. This mark cannot be 

duplicated and you have the mark."

"I what?!" Duo exclaimed as he stared at her in shock.

"You are the son of Saturn Knight. There for, you are Hotaru's protector 

by right of birth." The queen said with a soft smile at the young man 

across from her.

"This is great!" Hotaru shout as she jumped up and wrapped her arms 

around him. This was so unlike the Hotaru that everyone knew, the others 

stared at her for a moment. Not even two seconds after Duo had gotten 

over his shock at finding out that someone knew something about his 

past, he jumped up and started dancing around in joy with Hotaru.

The king and queen let them carry on for a few minutes before they 

approached them, their faces wreathed in smiles. "Duo, Hotaru, it is 

time for you to take your places in this world." The queen said as she 

pulled out a transformation wand and handed it to Hotaru, then took out 

a transformation disk with a scythe on it and handed it to Duo.

"Hotaru, say Saturn Planet Power and you will transform into Sailor 

Saturn. I have a more advanced wand that you will inherit when you are 

ready." The queen said and her daughter nodded.

"Saturn Planet POWER!!!" Hotaru shouted as she raised the wand above her 

head. She was engulfed in a bright purple light. When it cleared, she 

was dressed in a sailor uniform with dark blue skirt and collar and 

black bows in front and behind at the top of the skirt. White gloves 

with dark blue material at the top encased her arms and a tiara with a 

dark blue stone in it rested on her forehead. On her feet were boots the 

same shade as her skirt that laced up to her knees. 

As she studied herself, Duo also found himself doing the same. She may 

be only fourteen, but in that outfit, it made her look much older and 

much sexier. "Wow…" was all he could say as he took in the short skirt 

and the skintight body suit. "You look great."

Hotaru blushed and looked down, tugging on the skirt to try and make it 

cover more of her.

"Now it is your turn, Duo." The king said, snapping the kid out of his 

musings. "You don't need to say anything to transform, but if you need 

something to help get going, just say something like Saturn Knight 

Power."

Nodding, Duo stepped back and held up the disk. "Saturn Knight Power!" 

he shouted. A black and purple light covered him and formed a gray 

uniform with a black cape thrown over his shoulders and a dark purple 

mask appeared over his eyes. Then, to the surprise of all, two things 

happened. In his hands appeared the Death Scythe. The blade was made out 

of a silver looking metal that glowed in the light and a deep brown 

wooden shaft supported it. While it looked just like a regular farm 

implement, Duo could feel the power that coursed through it, making it 

almost vibrate in his hands.

The second surprise, though, was much more of a shock. As the last of 

the black and purple light disappeared, two great big black leathery 

wings sprouted from his back. Duo felt no pain as it happened, but 

instead felt as though something that had been missing had returned. 

Spreading them, he flapped them once and suddenly, he was in the air, 

hovering just about the others' startled heads.

"Uh, mom? Where did the wings come from?" Hotaru asked as she looked up 

in wonderment.

"There was a prophesy about Saturn K. that has been passed down for 

generations. It is said that when the one destined to wield the Death 

Scythe, which disappeared thousands of years ago, took up his 

transformation, it would appear in his hands and great black wings would 

carry him to his destiny." The queen said, awed by the sight of the 

hovering fighter.

"Destiny? What destiny? I though it was to protect Sailor Saturn." 

Saturn K. said as he gently came to rest on the floor again.

"You have two destinies." The queen said. "One is to protect Sailor 

Saturn. But the other one is unknown to us. The prophecy said that only 

he would know it when the time came."

"I see."

"Is there anyway to make the wings disappear?" the king asked suddenly.

"I think so. Hold on a minute." Duo said and closed his eyes in 

concentration. After a moment, he opened his eyes and said, "There." 

Suddenly the wings dissipated like smoke. "I think I'll be able to keep 

them from forming when I transform now."

"Why?" Hotaru asked.

"Well, I don't want anyone to see them yet. What the enemy doesn't know 

can be a great advantage in battle." Duo said as he dismissed the Death 

Scythe to some subspace pocket to keep it there until he needed it. 

"Well, here's to a new beginning." The King said as he picked up his 

glass of wine from the table.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"After that, we trained with each other and the others, got stronger, 

and fell in love. The others never did find out about my wings and we 

never mentioned it to anyone." Duo said, finishing his story.

Hotaru didn't say anything for a moment as she cuddled closer to him, 

thinking about what he had told her. Now that he had reminded her, she 

was starting to remember them herself. Finally, she asked, "Duo, can you 

make your wings appear when you're not in uniform?"

"Yes, I can. Why, you want a ride?" he asked he, a teasing glint in his 

eyes.

"Yes." She said simply and stood up. They had been there for a few hours 

and it was now almost four o'clock. Standing, he concentrated and his 

wings formed quickly, seeming to ooze out of his back. 

"Hang on." He said as he scooped her into his arms and took off. As they 

flew, they spotted Heero and Ami standing next to the lake talking.

"Ami, thanks for coming with me to talk." Heero said as he stared out at 

the waters of the lake.

"It's not a problem, Heero. What did you want to talk about?" Ami asked 

as she turned to look at her companion.

"I want to know what you know about us in the past. I can remember some 

things, but not everything."

"What do you remember?" she asked curious.

"Our first meeting and training a little bit." He said after a pause.

"I don't remember those, but I have some memories of battles where we 

fought together and our deaths." She said quietly. "Why don't we tell 

each other what we remember? I've found if someone talks about something 

from then, it stimulates our memories and you start to remember things 

faster."

"Since I remember our first meeting, I'll go first." He said and led her 

over to a bench and sat down while he collected his thoughts. Finally he 

started his story.

"We met on the day we got our transformations…"

***************

Flashback

***************

"Ami, I would like you to meet the son of a very dear friend of mine." 

The Queen of Mercury said as she entered the library in the Mercury 

palace. Ami was sitting at a table, surrounded by books and papers as 

she filled a notebook with notes as she read from one of the thick 

volumes.

At her mother's entrance, she put her pen down and stood up, turning 

towards her mother and a boy about her age that was standing next to 

her. He was about 5'4 with messy brown hair that hung in his cobalt blue 

eyes a little bit. He was dressed in a tunic and hose with designs of 

drops of water in various shade of blue at the hem, collar, and cuffs of 

the tunic. He also had dark blue boots made of the softest leather on 

his feet.

"Ami, this is Odin. He and his father are visiting us and I need to talk 

to his father privately for a while. I want you to get to know Odin here 

and show him around." The queen said and Ami nodded. Within a few 

moments, they were alone in the huge library, silently starring at each 

other, each trying to figure a way to break the uncomfortable silence 

without making a fool of themselves.

Finally, Odin looked around and spotted the pile of books that Ami had 

been studying. "What were you working on?" he asked and Ami immediately 

latched onto the topic.

"These are medical texts centered on surgical procedures and the anatomy 

of various sentient species of beings around the universe. There are 

also a couple books on the work of several herbalists and what herbs can 

cure or stall which sickness." She said happily as she lead the way over 

to the table and pointed out various books.

"You want to be a doctor?" he asked and she nodded.

"I would love to be able to help people and not just as a queen when I 

grow up." She said and he nodded.

"That has always been my dream to be a doctor. Tell me have you read to 

book about Diakioustopia by Dr. Honard?" he asked as he held out a chair 

for Ami then sat down next to her. (Don't even try to look up 

Diakioustopia. I made it up on the spot.)

"Why, no I haven't. That is a little out of the range of what I'm 

currently studying. It concerns the brain, right?" she said and he 

nodded.

Two hours later when the Queen came looking for them, she found them 

curled up on opposite ends of a couch discussing medical things that 

gave the queen a headache whenever she tried to follow the conversation.

"Ami, Odin, I would like to speak to both of you please." She said, 

interrupting before they could get any deeper in their conversation.

Nodding, they stood and followed her to the throne room where Odin's 

father was waiting. Once they were inside and the guards were dismissed, 

the queen turned to the children and addressed the children, who looked 

like they wanted to go back to the library and continue their 

discussion.

"Ami, Odin, it is time for you to help make the universe a better 

place." She said and they looked at her confused.

"What do you mean, mother?" Ami asked, not sure if she really wanted to 

know judging by the look in her mom's eyes.

"What I mean, dear, is that it is your turn to take up the mantel of 

being Sailor Mercury as I once did, just like it is time for Odin to 

become Mercury Knight, just like his father before him."

Ami and Odin looked at each other for a moment before they turned to 

their respective parents. "What?" they asked at the same time. In 

response, the queen pulled out a wand and quickly called out her 

transformation phrase even as Odin's father pulled out a dark blue disk 

with a picture of a drop of water on it and quietly transformed into 

Mercury K. When the lights cleared, they looked at their parents in 

shock. 

The queen was now dressed as Eternal Sailor Mercury. Her skirt had three 

layers, a dark blue on the bottom and a light blue on top, and a white 

layer between them. Her poof sleeves were dark blue and her light blue 

bows were more angular and had a heart shaped center. Her back bow also 

had two long streamers coming from it that reached to her ankles. Her 

blue boots had spiked heels. Her gloves had three shades of blue at the 

top and there was a heart in the center of her blue choker. On her 

forehead appeared the symbol of Mercury and it glowed with a gentle blue 

light. Mercury Knight was wearing a gray uniform with a light blue mask 

and a dark blue lined cape thrown over his shoulders.

"How is this possible?" Ami asked as she approached her mother and 

started circling her, studying her.

"Magic, dear."

"There is no such thing as magic. There has to be a logical 

explanation." She insisted as she touched the skirt carefully, feeling 

the material between her fingers.

"How is this, my spiritual energy that helps me keep the kingdom safe 

manifests it's self, converting water and other stray molecules in the 

air to form my outfit. Then, when I do my attacks, the water molecules 

condense together in one point and my energy wills it to do an attack." 

The queen said and Ami nodded thoughtfully. "Now it is time for your own 

transformation."

"Yes, mother." Ami said as she accepted the blue transformation wand 

from the queen. "Mercury Power!" Within moments, she was dressed in a 

blue sailor scout uniform with light blue bows and dark blue material 

forming the skirt, collar, choker, boots and the material at the top of 

the white gloves that reached her elbows. A tiara with a blue gem on her 

forehead completed the outfit and she stood next to her mother as they 

watched as Odin received his new powers.

"Odin, do you promise to care and protect Princess Ami of Mercury, also 

known now as Sailor Mercury until it is time for you to pass it on to 

your successor or until your deaths?" Mercury K. demanded and Odin 

nodded firmly. "Then reach forth your hand." As he handed over the disk, 

Mercury K.'s uniform flickered and transferred it's self to Odin. "Here 

is your sword, the Wave Crusher." He said, handing Odin a double blade 

sword which had blue leather wrapped around the hilt.

"Congratulations, you two. Now you will be able to help the universe 

much more than you normally would be able to."

***************

End Flashback

***************

"The only training I remember is on Mercury…." Heero continued.

***************

Flashback

***************

"Ami, I've been working on a new attack. Would you like to spar a little 

so that I could show you and you can work on your bubbles?" Odin asked 

as he entered the library to see the princess he had sworn to protect 

sitting on a couch reading a thick book, which she put down and nodded.

"Sure. I want to see if I can get them to be denser. At the moment, 

they're not thick enough to really help to much." She said as she put 

her book aside and stood up.

Once they were transformed and in the practice area, they stood at 

opposite ends of the yard and prepared to attack. Sailor Mercury started 

first, sending a wave of mist over the yard as she rushed forward to 

throw a kick at him. He dodged the kick easily, but then sent a bunch of 

kicks and punches back at her to put her on the defensive. She jumped 

out of the way of the last punch and prepared her bubbles again. 

At the same time he jumped back and held out his hands in front of him, 

a misty looking ball of energy appeared in them. With a shout of "Ice 

Illusion!" the mist sped towards her before she could release her own 

attack, surrounding her completely. "Show her her worst fears." He 

commanded the attack and stopped to watch what happened. This was the 

first time he had tried this so he wasn't sure how it would react. If he 

had been thinking clearly instead of with his excitement, he would have 

know that this was not the type you used against your partner, 

especially if that partner was a sweet girl who hated violence but would 

fight if it was needed.

In the icy mist, Mercury looked around and froze as she saw her mother 

being killed as a blast of energy hit her. It also destroyed a good 

portion of the palace and she could do nothing. As she watched 

helplessly, she saw the rest of the palace destroyed and all her friends 

and family that hadn't died in the initial blasts killed by soldiers 

that swarmed over every inch of the palace, raping the few women left, 

herself included and killing the remaining men, including Odin.

Finally, she screamed and collapsed. Realizing that maybe it wasn't such 

a good idea after all, Mercury k. hurried over to her as the icy mist dissipated, their job done, to reveal Mercury curled up on her side, 

shivering on the ground.

"Ami! Ami are you all right?!" he exclaimed as he rushed up to her. 

Before he even got to her, she passed out and her scout uniform 

flickered and disappeared, leaving her in her dress once more. Quickly 

he detransformed too and carried her to her room where he put her to bed 

and watched over her until she woke up which was when he promptly begged 

her forgiveness.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"I still can't believe that I hit you with that attack." Heero said as 

he stared out the waters of the lake.

"Heero, anyone can make a mistake, you know." Ami said as she put a hand 

on his arm, causing him to look at her in a little bit of surprise. No 

one usually touched him willingly, even the other pilots, even Duo 

sometimes.

"But…" he started to say, but she cut him off firmly.

"No. It was a new attack that had never been tested before. It was 

better that you had tested it on me than some one else. It might have 

seriously hurt a regular human or it might have done something 

completely different than you had meant it to do. I at least had a 

chance to defend my self against it if something went wrong."

"Something did go wrong! It worked on you and showed you your worst 

fears! You couldn't stop it and you were in the infirmary in a coma for 

three days!" Heero shouted angrily, loosing his temper for the first 

time in years as he jumped to his feet and started to pace in front of 

the bench. Even when he had lost his temper at Duo or Zechs, he was 

always tightly in control at all times.

"Would it make you feel better if I hit you with one of my attacks that 

I have been working on?" she asked and he immediately nodded, a grateful 

expression spreading across his face.

Standing up, she quickly transformed into Sailor Mercury and after a 

moment, Heero followed suit. For a moment Sailor Mercury and Mercury K 

faced each other across a few feet of grass before she began her attack. 

While Ami was a very nonviolent person, she understood that until she 

attacked him back with an untried attack, Heero wouldn't let it go.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" she shouted as she strummed her watery harp 

sending jets of water at Mercury K. He was blasted back into a tree with 

violent force, his head slamming into the bark with a sickening crack. 

As he slumped to the ground, leaving a trail of blood to mark his 

process, she hurried forward to check on him. After inspecting the 

wounds from the attack and from the tree, she opened her communicator 

and spoke into it softly for a moment to Hotaru who answered. Closing 

it, she took off her glove, folded it and pressed it against the back of 

his head where the skin had split and was bleeding sluggishly.

Duo and Hotaru arrived a few minutes later on a black motorcycle wearing 

matching black leather jackets and full head helmets. Swinging off the 

back of the bike, Hotaru hurried over to the two Mercurys with Duo only 

a half a step behind.

"So tell me what happened again? Heero wanted you to hit him with your 

attack?" Hotaru asked Ami who nodded while Duo just sighed in 

exasperation.

"We were trading memories and he told me about this one when he tried a 

new attack on my which hurt me. When he was finished with the story, I 

asked him if it would make him feel any better if I hit him with one of 

my new attacks that I hadn't tried yet and he seemed so grateful about 

having a way to erase his guilt that I hit him with my Mercury Aqua 

Rhapsody. It looks like he would have been fine if he hadn't hit his 

head on the tree." Mercury said as she brushed some hair out of Heero's 

closed eyes.

"That sounds like something he would be grateful for," Duo said as he 

looked from Mercury K to Sailor Mercury, "but that doesn't explain why 

you would do it. I mean, you strike me as a very gentle girl, not crazy 

like Heero."

"He isn't crazy and I am gentler than the others, but it was the only 

way to get him to stop feeling so guilty. I mean, he's been feeling 

guilty about this for over a thousand years, that's not the kind of 

thing that just saying it's ok with take the guilt away." Ami said 

gently and Duo nodded in understanding.

As they had been talking, Hotaru had been healing Heero. As they 

finished speaking, Heero opened his eyes and sat up, startling a bird 

that had been hunting for seeds near him. As the bird fluttered away, 

Ami threw her arms around him from behind and nuzzled the back of his 

neck, surprising everyone present, including Hotaru who had known her 

the longest in this lifetime.

"I'm so glad that you're ok now." Ami murmured.

Heero didn't say anything, but he leaned back slightly against Ami. 

After a moment, they both shimmered, their uniforms disappearing and 

their regular clothes appearing in their place.

"I think we'll leave you two alone to finish your talk." Hotaru said as 

she dragged the grinning Duo back to the motorcycle and crammed his 

helmet back on his head before putting her own on. Then in a cloud of 

dust, the peeled out and shot down the path of the park and out onto the 

street, Hotaru waving madly at the couple they were leaving behind.

As soon as the dust settled and the last echoes of the engine died away, 

Heero turned his head slightly and said, "Tell me about what you 

remember about our past lives."

"Ok. My earliest memory of you was a battle…

***************

Flashback

***************

"Your Majesty! There has been an attack on an isolated town near the 

southern border of the country." A guard panted as he rushed into the 

throne room of the Mercurian royal palace where the Queen, the Princess 

and the Princess's protector were talking.

"Who has attacked them?" the queen demanded as she stood up quickly.

"Yomas, Your majesty. A boarder patrol sent the message just before they 

were killed."

"You may leave now." The queen said grimly and the man bowed out of the 

room. Turning to the others she snapped, "We need Sailor Mercury and 

Mercury K to go to the town and stop the monsters before they can kill 

anyone else."

"Yes mother." Ami said while Odin nodded. In a flash, Sailor Mercury and 

Mercury K were standing in their places. 

"I will transport you two to the place." The Queen said as she pulled a 

wand with a large blue crystal on top. Curling around the crystal was a 

dark blue wave with a teardrop dangling from the tip. It sort of looked 

like the moon wand with the exceptions being the wave and teardrop in 

place of the crescent moon and it being in shades of blue instead of 

pink and gold. It was Mercury's royal scepter and worked the same way as 

the Imperial Moon Wand the Queen Serenity had, just weaker.

"Mercury Prism Power! Send these two to their battle!" the Queen cried 

as she held the scepter above her head. Bright blue rays of light and 

power shot from the crystal and surrounded the two in front of her, 

forming a bubble around them. In the blink of an eye, Ami and Odin 

disappeared from the throne room and reappeared fifty miles away in the 

center of a small town where they could see dozens of monsters wandering 

around, draining the energy from the few remaining people. When Mercury 

and Mercury K appeared, all activity ceased as the monsters turned 

towards them in surprise.

The moment of stillness was shattered as a cold voice rang out from the 

shadows. "Kill Sailor Mercury and Mercury Knight. Queen Beryl will bless 

which ever of you does it."

That was all that was needed for the yomas to attack them. They attacked 

in a large group, coming from all directions at once. Mercury K drew his 

sword as he prepared for them while Sailor Mercury backed up until her 

back was pressed against his. Summoning her power she blanketed the area 

in a fog that had recently gotten thicker with help from her mother and 

Odin.

While the monsters tried to find them in the fog, Mercury K readied one 

of his attacks. "Flasher!" he shouted as his brightly glowing sword, 

which was glowing a bluish slivery color, sent a wave of energy at a 

group of them that appeared through the fog. The attack destroyed about 

a third of the monsters, but the other two thirds seemed to be smarter. 

They started to use the fog to their own advantage, hiding in the cover 

of the fog and sending out wide ranged attacks that didn't affect 

anything with negapower.

Mercury was glanced by one of the attacks and collapsed as her entire 

left side was crippled from the blast. "Mercury! Are you all right?" 

Mercury K yelled over his shoulder as he ducked under another blast.

"I can't move my left side and it feels as though I'm bleeding heavily 

as I am starting to get really light headed and dizzy." Mercury said as 

she blinked fuzzily around them at the thinning fog.

Before Mercury K could say anything, two bubbles, like the one he and 

Ami had arrived in, except this time garnet and black, appeared and 

settled to the ground on either side of them, revealing four people, two 

in sailor scouts uniform and two in the Knights uniform.

"Hi there, Mercurys. Don't mind if we join the party, do ya?" one of the 

knights, wearing a black cape and a purple mask, asked cockily as he 

assumed a fighting stance next to Odin. On the other side was a Knight 

wearing a maroon mask and a matching cape. 

"We saw what would happen if you received no help in the fight and if 

she received no medical attention so our queen contacted Saturn's and 

they sent us to help." He said calmly as he drew his sword and prepared 

to fight. The two new sailor scouts had hurried to Mercury's side and 

now the taller one with the long green hair and the red eyes protected 

he other two while the girl with the short black hair healed Ami.

As soon as she was back on her tiny, blue boot clad feet, Mercury threw 

a thick fog over the area again as the other one had dissipated. "Now 

what do we do?" she asked as she looked at the new comers.

"Now, we kick some yoma ass!" the one in black and purple said as he 

swung around as he caught sight of movement in the fog. That was when 

the two Mercurys caught sight of the long brown rope of hair that 

reached all the way to his knees.

"Saturn K, those were not our orders." The green haired girl snapped as 

she gripped her staff tighter. The yomas, whom had been scared off a 

little bit at the appearance of the others, were starting to edge 

towards them again.

"Ah, come on Pluto. We're going to have to fight them sooner or later. I 

would rather it be sooner." Saturn K said with a quick grin at the 

annoyed Sailor Pluto.

"That is enough." The girl with the black hair said firmly as she 

gripped her glaive tighter. "We need to find out who is behind this and 

then get out of here."

"Beryl is behind this." Mercury K said coldly as he watched the circling 

fiends.

"How do you know?" Pluto asked.

"Because the reward for killing us was a blessing from Queen Beryl."

"Oh."

"Well, now that we have the information, I think we should get out of 

here." Pluto K said as the monsters started tightening the circle.

"Good idea." Mercury said as she pulled out her communicator and flipped 

open the top. "Mother, we need to return to the palace and there are 

four extra people here that need transportation too."

'I know dear. The Queens from their planets have already contacted me 

and I will transport the six of you in a moment.' The voice of the queen 

said from the communicator and Mercury nodded before shutting it with a 

quick snap.

Not three seconds after she had cut the connection. Mercury and the 

others were surrounded by a ball of blue energy and whisked away from 

the yomas just as they sprang. They reappeared in the royal throne room, 

Saturn K already grumbling that they were just putting off the 

inevitable.

"Sailor Pluto, Pluto K, and Sailor Saturn and Saturn K. it is a pleasure 

to finally meet you." the queen said as she approached the four new 

comers.

"Your majesty." They murmured together as they curtsied and bowed 

respectively.

After the pleasantries were through, Pluto spoke up in a serious voice. 

"Your Majesty, we found out that Beryl is behind the attacks on the 

kingdoms of the silver alliance."

"I have long suspected that she was the one behind the attacks, but I 

have had no proof." The queen said as she sat down in a chair pulled up 

to a table with eight others. She gestured for the others to join her 

there as a servant put a tray of drinks on the table.

"Who are the other two chairs for?" Duo asked as he picked up a goblet 

of wine. Just as he was taking a sip, the door opened.

"They are for us." A voice said from the doorway, causing Duo to spit 

out the wine all over the table in shock. "Hello Duo."

"Nephrite." Duo snarled, springing to his feet before turning his gaze 

to the other man. If it was possible, Duo's gaze got even darker. "And 

you, Malachite. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Why, were here to help you plan the battle against Queen Beryl, Little 

Duo." Nephrite said with a smirk.

Turning hard eyes on the Queen, Duo snapped, "Is this true?"

Bristling slightly at his manner, she said in a cold voice, "It is true 

that they are here to help us plan a strike against Beryl. Now tell me, 

Duo, what is the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with me? I tell you what's the matter. The matter is 

not only did you just invite two traitors into your castle, they also 

happen to be two of the people who made me into Shinigami." Duo snarled 

at the queen, who had a shocked expression on her face.

"What?! They are the ones who did that to you?!" Hotaru screamed into 

the sudden silence after Duo's stunning statement. It took Duo, Triton, 

and Odin to hold her back as she tried to throw herself at the two men 

who were starting to edge towards the door, now realizing that their 

plan to gather information on the sailors and their knights from the 

inside, had failed.

Both men stopped at the door and started gathering dark nega-energy into 

balls in their hands while the others where still trying to calm Hotaru 

down. Odin looked up just in time to see the balls leave their hands and 

shoved Hotaru away into Duo and Triton who then landed on Ami and 

Sestuna.

Turning back to Nephrite and Malachite, he shouted "Tsunami Crusher!" a 

huge wave of water gushed out of his hands with enough force to send the 

men through the thick wall behind men and to the opposite side of the 

wide hall. When the dust and ruble had settled, both of them were gone, 

leaving only the ruins of the wall and the water all over the floor.

***************

End Flashback

***************

"…and then not to long after that, everyone went to the moon where right 

before the party, Queen Beryl attacked." Ami said as she leaned against 

him slightly as she stared out at the water.

***************

Flashback

***************

Ami and Odin were in their guest rooms preparing for the ball when their 

communicators went off. Opening the tops, they listened as Sailor Mars 

sounded the order to transform. 

"…the enemy has arrived at the palace gates and are slaughtering the 

guests waiting to enter the palace. If we don't hurry, everyone is going 

to die." Mars snapped angrily as she ran down the hall of the palace 

from her room. Her room had a view of the front gates and had seen when 

the massacre had begun.

"Well be right there." Mina said and the others added their agreements. 

Within three minutes, fifteen scouts and knights were assembled and 

ready to take on the monsters. In the moments before the battle began, 

Neptune K asked Saturn K quietly, "Where is Sailor Saturn? Shouldn't she 

be here?"

Just as quietly, Saturn K said, "There was some trouble back on Saturn 

and she needed to go take care of it. She should be back soon, hopefully 

after we take care of this annoyance. I promised to dance with her all 

night at the ball."

They couldn't say anymore after that as the battle had begun.

Mercury and Mercury K quickly found themselves separated from the others 

as six large monsters singled them out and began to drive them towards 

the trees in the not to far distance with carefully placed attacks. 

"Odin, we need to do something! They're driving us away from the others 

and we won't last to long if they keep throwing attacks like that at 

us!" Ami shouted as they dodged an energy ball that blew apart a huge 

boulder. 

"I know that Ami!" he shouted as he threw a Tsunami Crusher at a few 

that were getting to close. They fought valiantly as they entered the 

tree line, but Sailor Mercury was the weakest scout and the yomas seemed 

to know that as they focused more and more attacks her way. finally, a 

killing blow was struck, but not from the monsters, but a man with wavy 

gold hair that reached mid back. He approached silently behind Ami as 

she thickened the fog once again.

Without a word, he changed from a mouth wateringly beautiful man to a 

fiend. His incisors lengthened into long, deadly fangs and his eyes 

became more catlike with narrow, slit pupils. With a glance, he sent the 

yomas running from him and their original targets, surprising Mercury 

and Mercury K.

Odin turned to smile at Mercury only to freeze in shock as he watched 

the man prepare to grab Ami and sink his teeth into her neck. Reacting 

on impulse, he leapt forward and shoved Ami away, slamming his fist into 

the autocratic face.

"You vill pay for zat." That creature sneered in a heavy French voice, 

full of culture and expression.

"Don't you dare touch her." Mercury K snarled back. 

"I vill touch who ever I vant, whelp." The man snapped and bit his own 

figure and formed a whip out of the blood which he sent flying towards 

the fighter from Mercury. The whip struck him in the chest and sent him 

stumbling backwards, a long bloody gash that went from his left shoulder 

to his right hip. During the next few minutes while Ami was trying to 

clear her head from when it had hit the ground when Odin had pushed her, 

Mercury K was severely whipped.

"Now, little whelp, it is time I finished this and drink from your 

little girlfriend." The man said with a cruel grin as he approached and 

as he walked, his whip shimmered, shifted and became a red sword.

Ami looked up and saw the man stalking Mercury K with a large sword and 

reacted before she could think. Just as the blonde man lifted his sword, 

preparing to stab Odin in the chest, she lunged forward and wrapped her 

arms around his neck, presenting her back to the man and his sword, 

which rammed through her back and then into Odin's chest.

"Vhat a pity. All zath blood gone to vaist." The man sighed without 

remorse and then turned away, leaving the sword stuck in them both.

As the man walked away, Ami and Odin stared into each others eyes as 

their blood mingled where their chests where pressed together. 

"I…love…you…" he gasped and she gave him a wistful smile.

"I…just wish…I had had enough…guts to tell you the…same so long ago. 

I've…loved you…ever since…you came into…my library… and… we… talked… 

about…what…we were…interested…in." she said and pressed he lips against 

his in their first and last kiss of that life. And then they both passed 

on to await their next life.

***************

End Flashback

***************

They were silent for a few minutes after Ami had stopped her tale of 

their deaths in their previous lives, each contemplating on their last 

actions. Finally, Heero spoke up.

"Well, why don't we continue where we left off?" he said and leaned 

towards her and pressed his lips against hers in a deep kiss.

******

TBC


	12. ch 12 IMCOMPLETE!

Ranma ½: Life, Love, and Death  
  
Memories part 2 Jupiter and Pluto *************** Chapter 12 ***************  
  
Ranma hurried down the street to his interview for a new job. It was his third interview of the day and this one seemed a little bit more his style. The first job he had applied to was at a construction site building a new department store. The second was working as a waiter in a restaurant in his girl form. He wasn't too thrilled about that one but he at least had experience with it from working in the Cat-Café.  
  
This new job, however was teaching a beginners class at a near by dojo where the only teachers were an old man in his sixties who was ready to retire and an arrogant man in his late twenties that believed that he has to good to waste his time on beginners. All he had to do was prove that he could handle basic martial arts with out keeling over with exhaustion, which was no longer a problem as he was in above average shape now. About halfway back to the shape that he was before the accident, he was in good enough shape to teach an advanced level class with ease so the beginner's class would be as easy as pie.  
  
Reaching the dojo, he started up a long flight of stairs that reminded him of Rei's temple steps. As he bounced up the stairs, he passed people heading up as well, though at a much slower pace. One little old lady was leaning heavily on the arm of a young girl as she labored to get up the steps. Just as he was passing them, the woman tripped and went down hard on the steps. Her leg broke with an audible snapping sound and she cried out in pain, even as she started to topple down the stairs, the young girl desperately trying to stop the woman's fall.  
  
Seeing the trouble they were in, Ranma stopped abruptly and grabbed the old woman up off the steps and braced himself on the railing. Seeing the way her leg dangled at the odd angle, Ranma turned and raced up the steps, leaving the young girl far behind as she raced after them.  
  
Reaching the top of the stairs, he looked franticly around and spotted the old man who ran the dojo welcoming a group of students entering the large building. Running towards him as smoothly as he could as not to jar the woman's leg as much as possible, he shouted, "Mr. Fujimoto, this woman needs some help. She fell on the steps and broke her leg."  
  
After throwing him a startled glance, Mr. Fujimoto turned and hurried over to a good-sized house next to the dojo, motioning urgently for Ranma to follow him. Ranma bounded into the house and with a quick look around, spotted a comfortable couch on the far wall. Gently placing his burden on it, Ranma took off his small back pack and looked up into the pain filled face of the woman.  
  
"Ma'am, my name is Ranma. I can relieve the pain and straighten you leg if you wish." He said as Mr. Fujimoto dialed the number of the doctor who worked on the people at the dojo regularly.  
  
"That would be wonderful, young man." The woman said softly in a beautiful voice.  
  
Working quickly, Ranma lifted her skirt slightly to just above her knees and jabbed at a couple places on her leg to deaden the nerves.  
  
"Oh my, that is wonderful, Ranma. Where ever did you learn the pressure points so well?" the woman asked and Ranma smiled up at her before going back to gently straightening her leg.  
  
"Well, that story is part of a much larger one, but to put it simply, the matriarch of a group of Chinese amazons taught me when she was trying to force me to marry her great grand daughter just because I beat her in a fight. It was a village law." Ranma said as he gently wrapped his sash around her leg to help keep it immobile.  
  
"Oh my, what a weird custom. Did you perhaps know about the law before you fought her?" the woman asked with a concerned look.  
  
"No. Pops and I were traveling in China, not even knowing Chinese and our guide took us to the village during a big competition. Pops, unfortunately, started to eat the food laid out as prize for the winner, and Shampoo held me responsible and challenged me to a fight. I was very arrogant then and took her up on her challenge. I defeated her easily and then her great grandmother tried to force me to marry her right then and there. We escaped, but they followed us back to Japan." Ranma stopped talking for a moment and the woman spoke up.  
  
"Would it have been so bad to marry her?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Don't get me wrong, she was very beautiful and the best fighter of her generation, and she was just following her laws, but to her, I was just a prize." Ranma said and then his voice turned slightly bitter. "I had beaten her and there for I was worthy enough to marry her. It didn't matter that I had a bunch of fiancées already thanks to my worthless excuse of a father who kept selling me for food. It also didn't matter to her or to anyone else that I wasn't ready to settle down and get married. I was just a prize to be fought over between her and three other girls. There where more, but they gave up after a while."  
  
While he had been speaking, Mr. Fujimoto had come back from the phone and him and the old woman listened quietly. When he stopped talking, Mr. Fujimoto said softly, "You have passed through the fire of troubles and tribulations and have emerged a stronger man, Ranma."  
  
"No, Sensei, I haven't. Because of one of my fiancées, I was paralyzed and though I'm no longer paralyzed, I spent over a year unable to move my legs and because of that I was disowned. I also lost most of my strength and though I'm as strong as I was when I was about twelve, it will take some time before I will be back to full power. I didn't come out stronger, I came out broken." Ranma said bitterly.  
  
"Maybe you're not as strong as you once were, but your troubles have matured you and while you might have been bent under your troubles, you have not been broken. If you had been, then you wouldn't be trying to build yourself back up again." Fujimoto said simply and the woman nodded in agreement.  
  
Ranma opened his mouth to say something, but a voice from the doorway interrupted scornfully.  
  
"You're only as strong as you were when you were twelve? How did you plan on teaching the beginner's class, by pictures?" the man in the doorway was tall and bulged with muscles. His blond hair was of medium length and just brushed his shoulders, which bunched up slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest in disdain as he looked Ranma over like he was a piece of trash. He had a copy of Martial Artist Monthly in one hand.  
  
"You must be Ryo Nonaka, the teacher of the advanced classes." Ranma said coolly as he stood up.  
  
"That's right kid, and don't you forget it." Ryo said arrogantly.  
  
Ranma just snorted at the man before starting to turn away, but the magazine in Ryo's hand stopped him cold. Almost quicker than the others could follow, he rushed over and grabbed it out of the startled man's hand. What caught his attention was the article it was opened to.  
  
A huge picture of Ranma and Ryoga filled up at least half of the page. They were fighting in the ruins of what had once been a pleasant park near the Tendo Dojo in Nerima. The pic was of them throwing their ki blasts at each other. Underneath the picture was the article and Ranma began reading it aloud as he absentmindedly dodged a couple of blows that an angry Ryo aimed at him.  
  
" 'It's been over a year since the battles have stopped in Nerima, a welcome respite for most, but a terrible thing for a few others. It all began when Ranma Saotome, the young man in the black and red Chinese outfit, arrived in Nerima a few years ago and settled down in the Tendo Dojo. Before he came, there was a relative peace, but it changed when the then 16 year-old martial artist arrived. He quickly started fighting regularly with T. Kuno, a kendoist at Furnikan High school. He stopped the daily morning battles between Akane Tendo, one of his fiancées, and most of the male students, but he and Kuno began a morning fight of their own. Hardly a day went by without Kuno ending up in the nurse's office before school.'  
  
" 'Then came Ryoga Hibiki, the young man in green and yellow in the picture above. Mr. Hibiki, who has the world's worst sense of direction, showed up and began fighting with Saotome whenever he could find him, blaming him for everything that has ever gone wrong in his life. Both are masters of their schools and they also have complete control over their ki's. In the above picture, you can see Saotome doing what he has called a Moko Takabisha, and Hibiki doing a Shi Shi Hokodan.'" Here Ranma had to pause to turn the page. On the next page he saw a group of smaller pictures showing Shampoo, Moose, Cologne, Kuno, Kodachi, Akane, and Ukyo with their names underneath.  
  
" 'Then came the two Chinese fighters, Moose and Shampoo. Shampoo, following one of her tribe's laws followed Saotome from china in an attempt to marry him while Moose, who was in love with Shampoo followed to try and kill Saotome in an attempt to win Shampoo. There was also Ukyo, an okonomiyaki chef who owns a restaurant named the Ucchan. She was engaged to Saotome by his father when they were children and then left behind when they continued their training journey. I must point out the fact, though, that Saotome was never aware that he had been engaged to Ukyo and in fact thought that she was a boy.'  
  
" 'All of them where a large part of the battles that raged across Nerima for a few years. Kuno, Ryoga, and Moose attacking Ranma for the smallest, or in some cases, imagined things. Kodachi, Shampoo, Ukyo and Akane would fight over him in which he would always be drawn in. Every time, he would be the one who ended up with the most bruises and broken bones as it seems that he always took the most hits somehow in everyone of the girls battles.'"  
  
Ranma paused for a moment to look at a small picture of himself wrapped almost head to toe in bandages and splints. He remembered this picture. It was just after a huge all out brawl between all his fiancées and the guys who wanted them. Well, some of them. To the best of his knowledge, no one had ever tried to fight him for Ukyo or Kodachi. He had ended up with three broken or bruised ribs, a broken arm and leg, a sprained shoulder, wrist, ankle, and knee. Not to mention he had dislocated his other shoulder, both of his hips, and his other knee. He hadn't been able to move with out pain until almost when the casts were removed.  
  
Shaking his head at the memories, he continued reading out loud as he absently jumped over a couple kicks. "'Now, just over a year after Saotome was paralyzed by his now Ex-fiancée Akane Tendo, his family is searching for him to try and put things right between them. His mother, Nodoka Saotome, was heard to say that she was very sorry for what she has done and would like to beg his forgiveness about how she had treated him at the hospital. His father Genma Saotome, has been seen only once since the accident when he showed up at the Tendo Dojo. At that time, only a few months after the young Saotome's hospitalization, he was heard to say, and I quote, 'If my worthless excuse of a son had only learned more from me during our training trip, he wouldn't be like this now.'  
  
"'The combined outrage of the Tendo family and Mrs. Saotome, who has now filed for divorce from Mr. Saotome, has sent him into hiding where every once in a while someone would call into the hotline with a rumor on where he is now.  
  
"'After hearing about what truly happened to R. Saotome, the head of the Tendo Family, Soun, has decided to contact Ranma, who lives in Jubaan presently with his Aunt and her family, and talk to him about joining his family once again as his son-in-law, though maybe not by Akane.'"  
  
Ranma stopped reading there and looked at the bottom of the article to find out who had written the piece and wasn't surprised to see it was written by N T, or Nabiki Tendo in other words.  
  
"Oh, so now, I'm good enough for them." He sneered as he tossed the magazine aside and began pacing. "After what they put me through, they want me to just come back and marry Nabiki or Kasumi?! They're out of their minds!"  
  
Ranma was unaware that at that moment he was glowing with a bright green light that pulsed with each stomping step he made. He continued to rant for a few more minutes as the others watched. The two older people were calm, but Ryo and the girl that had been helping the old woman earlier, who had just come in, were watching with no small amount of fear. After all, how many times do you come across angry, glowing people in your life?  
  
"Ranma," Mr. Fujimoto said quietly, gaining everyone's attention. "I know what they did hurt, but maybe they feel that they need to be forgiven. They can't force you to marry anyone anymore, but I think that they do love you in their own way."  
  
"They don't love me except maybe Kasumi." Ranma snorted as he continued to pace. "I was always a mean for some end of theirs. For Soun, I was his and pop's retirement insurance. If I was there to run the dojo, then they could sit on their asses all day on play games and grovel at Happosai's feet whenever he showed up. For Nabiki I was just a source of easy money for her. For Akane, I was just something to take her anger out on." He said, ticking off people on his fingers.  
  
"There is only one person who has ever loved me just for me, and she barely remembers me now." This last bit was said in a dejected whisper as the battle aura faded, flickered, and finally disappeared.  
  
"Come over here child." The old woman said gently as she patted the couch next to her. Silently, he drifted over and sat next to her on the edge, starring down at his hands.  
  
"I know you are hurt but holding back your forgiveness of them is just going to make you hurt even more. It will eat at you until your life is miserable and your friends' lives are just as gloomy. What you need to do is go and make your peace with them and get on with your life. Go help this girl remember you and the love that you shared, or find someone who can return your love." She said kindly and Ranma nodded.  
  
"Thank you ma'am. But can I ask your name?" Ranma said as he gave her a weak smile.  
  
"Certainly young man. I'm Achika Fujimoto. I run the dojo with my husband." She said with a smile on her face for the shock on his before adding, "I think that you will work out perfectly. Why don't you take a week and get everything settled and then you can start work next Saturday?"  
  
Numbly, he nodded and within a few minutes, he found himself walking down the steps and back towards his Aunt's and Uncle's house.  
Ranma had been sitting in his room all day. It was now close to midnight and the dinner that his aunt had brought to his room hours earlier was still sitting on the desk, stone cold. With a sigh, he sat up from where he was laying on the bed and began packing his backpack with a few of his things.  
  
As soon as he was finished, he pulled some paper from the desk drawer and started writing a letter to his Aunt and Uncle.  
  
Dear Uncle Ken and Aunt Irene,  
  
When you find this, I'll be gone. But don't worry; I'll be back. I just have to go make my peace with the Tendos and my mother. I'll be back in a few days.  
  
Ranma  
  
Folding the paper, he set it on his pillow and slipped out the window. Once outside, he adjusted the pack and began the hike towards Nerima.  
  
"I wonder what mom is like. I only met her the one time and even if she did disown me, she seems to have changed her mind. Maybe she is the mother I used to have. He had just reached the town limits when a memory popped into his head.  
  
*************** Flashback ***************  
  
"Ranma! Where are you? It's time to go to the palace!" A beautiful woman shouted out into the large garden that stretched almost as far as the eye could see.  
  
"Coming mother!" a light tenor voice called back and within a moment, a tall handsome youth about fourteen ran into the view of the woman.  
  
"Ranma, how many times have I told you that when you work in the garden to change out of your practice gi. Your father is going to have a fit when he sees the stains on it!" she exclaimed as he shuffled his feet nervously. "You know that he sees gardening as a girly thing already, you don't want to think that you are not a man." She finished softly as she wrapped an arm around his slumped shoulders and led him towards the mansion they lived in with Ranma's father, Ranro.  
  
"I know, but I thought up this new move. You see, these leaves." he started to say but a cold voice from in front of them stopped his voiced and his feet. Standing in the doorway of the house, was Ranma's father. Ranro was a tall man that had jet black hair like his son, but that was about the extent of their likeness.  
  
Where Ranma had deep blue eyes, Ranro had black ones that gave nothing away. They were like hard chips of obsidian that revealed nothing. Ranro was also much taller than his son, though Ranma's physic was promising that he would also be tall, but not as tall as his father. Where Ranma was slim with compact muscles, Ranro had huge bulging muscles that made him look like a body builder.  
  
"Are you still acting like a girl, boy?" Ranro demanded as he approached the pair. "Plants are week, just like girls."  
  
"I'm not weak and I'm not a girl." Ranma said quietly, his fists clenching.  
  
"You are what I say you are." the man snapped, then turned towards the woman. "Get him ready, the queen is waiting for us, Hitomi." Spinning on his heel, he stalked away, leaving mother and on starring after him.  
  
"Why is he always like this?" Ranma complained bitterly.  
  
"It's just his way, I suppose." Hitomi said just as quietly. Silently, they continued on to Ranma's set of rooms to finish getting ready.  
Twenty minutes later, Ranma stood before his father in black silk pants with a green sleeveless silk shirt tucked in. His freshly washed hair was tied back in a braided pigtail and black wrist guards were snug aground his wrists.  
  
Ranro was dressed in his Jupiter Knight uniform, but Ranma knew that when he detransformed, he would be wearing something similar to him, except in all black. That's what he always wore, no matter what and he insisted that his son do the same thing as well. He also insisted that his wife wear a traditional kimono at all times, no matter what. Right now, she was wearing a green kimono decorated with embroidered bright green leaves around the hem. Her long black hair was in a braid that was twisted around her head in a type of crown and was decorated with small white flowers her son had picked for her for this important day.  
  
For today, they were going to the palace to meet with the queen and for something else that only the Queen and her Knight knew about.  
  
It took them only about ten minutes to reach the Jupiter Palace in the formal coach that Ranro insisted that his wife and son ride in while he rode a huge black stallion named Fury. They disembarked at the foot of the stair case leading up the entrance way and Ranro grabbed Ranma tightly by his upper arm and jerked him a few feet away to hiss in his ear, "Don't you dare embarrass me, boy or you will never see your precious garden again. Do you understand me?" The grip on Ranma's arm tightened painfully and he controlled the flinch that it provoked as he nodded.  
  
"Good." Ranro shoved him away and then turned towards the stairs, motioning his family to follow him. As they mounted the stairs, Hitomi on the arm of Ranma, the guards that stood at the bottom of the stairs to guard the entrance way and the guards at the top, pitied the pair following the Knight. Having to live with a man like that must have been horrible for them.  
  
As Ranma and his mother followed his father down the elegant halls of the Jupiter Palace, he tried to figure out what was going on. Why would they have to come with Ranro to the Palace as it was obviously Jupiter Knight business as Ranro never transformed when he went to the palace on business, as he was a trainer for the royal guards and was there everyday almost.  
  
Suddenly, a door opened up and a tall girl about fourteen ran out, franticly attempting to pull on a pair of slippers, put her hair up in a pony tail and finish straightening her green dress which was twisted and just a bit wrinkled from her hurry to finish getting ready. She Also she had a smudge of dirt on her nose and a small green leaf sitting on her bangs.  
  
She ran into Ranma in her hurry and almost fell to the ground as she was only hopping on one foot trying to get her last slipper on.  
  
"Whoa, be careful." Ranma said as he let go of his mother's arm and steadied the girl.  
  
"Thanks, I will. I'm sorry about that." She exclaimed as she looked up as him.  
  
"It's no problem, but you have some dirt on your nose and a leaf in your hair." He said with a small smile as he reached up and plucked the offending leaf out of the chestnut hair. Suddenly, a huge hand grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the girl and threw him against the wall with bruising force.  
  
"What did I tell you boy about embarrassing me?!" Jupiter Knight bellowed as he stood over his son, glowering at the young man. "When we get back, the garden is being sealed off for good this time." After one last glare at his son, he turned back to the startled girl and bowed.  
  
"I'm sorry, Princess. I believe your mother is waiting for us, so if you will excuse us?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned away and strode down the hall. Hitomi bowed to her quickly and hurried over to Ranma, who had a shell shocked expression on his face as he stared at the princess.  
  
"Come, we must hurry." She said as she gently took his arm and steered him after her husband. As she pulled him down the hall, he cast one more look over his shoulder at the princess, who was staring after them with horror and anger filled eyes.  
Ranro was waiting impatiently in front of a huge set of doors that had Jupiter's Royal family's crest created out of emeralds on it, one on each door, by the time, Ranma and Hitomi got caught up to him. He cast a quick look over both of them before saying, "You're presentable I suppose," ignoring the bruise that was forming on Ranma's upper arm.  
  
Turning away, he pounded on the door three times and it was swung open by the guards on the other side. Entering, he jerked his head at them to leave, then hurried towards the throne at the opposite side of the room, leaving his family to follow.  
  
"My Queen, we are here as you have commanded." He said as he bowed to the regal woman sitting there watching him with eyes that burned with emerald fire.  
  
"I didn't order you to send my guards away, Jupiter K. You take too much on yourself." She snapped angrily.  
  
"I was only anticipating your wishes, my queen." He protested smoothly, a smirk firmly on his face.  
  
Ignoring him for a moment, she turned towards Ranma and his mother and said, "Hitomi, my dear old friend, how are you? And this must be Ranma. My how he's grown! The last time I saw him, he was only three years old!" The queen stood up and walked past the shocked Jupiter K., who no longer wore his smirk, and embraced Hitomi like the old friend she was, then gave Ranma a hug as well, causing him to go bright red in the face.  
  
"Your Maj.majesty," he whispered with a bow as she released him.  
  
"Lessa, it's been such a long time, we really must have tea together again sometime." Hitomi said with a smile as she wiped away her tears.  
  
"Oh, yes, we really must. My special tea just doesn't taste the same without you around to drink it with." Just then a small door opened near the throne and the princess slipped into the room. After sending a glare at Jupiter K., she hurried over to her mother.  
  
"Mother, I'm sorry I'm late." She said, and the trio turned to look at her.  
  
"That's ok. Where were you, in the garden or training?" Queen Lessa asked.  
  
"Um, both, actually, I was training in the garden." The princess said calmly.  
  
"That's fine. Lita, this is my dearest friend Hitomi and her son Ranma." Lessa said as she gestured to them with a smile.  
  
"Hello, but we've met." Hitomi said with a small smile as she bowed to the princess.  
  
"You did? But where?" Lessa asked confused.  
  
"We ran into each other in the hall." Lita said with a small smile at Ranma, who blushed.  
  
Before the queen could say anything, Ranro spoke up. "This all nice and all, but you called us here for a reason, right my queen?"  
  
"Yes, I did." Lessa said coldly, the angry fire back in her eyes. "I have called you here for a couple of different reasons, the most important being that it is time to pass on the mantle of being Jupiter K. and Sailor Jupiter to our children." She added "You will pass on your transformation, Ranro." When it looked like he would protest.  
  
"Yes my queen." He said with a scowl. He turned towards Ranma and snapped, "You heard her, boy, get over her right now!" As soon as Ranma was standing in front of him, he grabbed his hand and shoved a disk into it. As soon as the disk was in Ranma's hand, an emerald light surrounded the pair and when it was gone, it revealed the new Jupiter K. in all his glory.  
  
"There, happy?" Ranro asked bitterly as he stepped backwards a few steps from his son.  
  
"Yes." Lessa said calmly then turned back to her daughter. "Lita, this is your transformation wand. Just say Jupiter Power and you will transform into the first level of Sailor Jupiter."  
  
"Ok." Lita said, moving backwards a few steps. "Jupiter Power!"  
  
After the flashing green light and the electricity cleared, Sailor Jupiter was reveled in all her glory. A pure white body suit offset the dark green skirt, sailor collar, choker, and green ankle boots. The pink bows brought the color out in her blushing cheeks when she realized just how short the skirt was.  
  
"My dear, congratulations, I'm sure you will make a wonderful sailor Jupiter." Hitomi said with a smile as she stepped forward and gave the girl a warm hug, which she returned.  
  
"Thank you." Jupiter whispered.  
  
"What other reasons have you called me, your majesty?" Ranro snapped before the three women could turn towards Jupiter K.  
  
Turning to him she pulled herself ramrod straight and with a cool glare said in a frosty voice, "It has come to my attention over the past few months, that you have been quietly gathering allies and fighters and putting them into the guard under your command. They are only loyal to you and have been seen bringing obscene amounts of money and jewels to you. You have also been receiving secret messages, of which we managed to get a hold of one."  
  
At this point, she stopped speaking to stare at Ranro's ashen face as his eyes darted from her, to the trio behind the queen, to the doors, the closest way out of the room. She narrowed her emerald eyes at him for a moment before she summoned a tall staff out of nowhere. At the top of the staff was what looked like a large leaf that cupped a bright green gem that sparkled in the light.  
  
"You, Ranro, have been found guilty of treason and will be banished to the neither realm." She said, but before she could continue, he interrupted, a bad thing to do to your queen when she is talking to you about your future.  
  
"On what charges?!"  
  
"You have been aiding the Negaverse in their attempts to take over our kingdom. We captured your messenger and he has told us all. You are finished." She said and slammed the butt of her staff on the flagstone floor. As it connected, the gem on top flared to life and sent a beam of light at Ranro, who was starring at her, his face grim. Just before the beam connected, a black spike of energy appeared out of nowhere and, twisting around him, he disappeared.  
  
"I'll be back, and when I do, you will all die!" his voice echoed around them even after her was gone.  
  
Turning to the other three in the room, she sighed and said, "We will have to be prepared at all times to be assured that he can't fulfill his final threat. With you consider moving back into the palace, Hitomi? Ranma will of course have to live here to train with my daughter in their new powers."  
  
"Of course! I would love to live here. I never wanted to move away in the first place. That was all his idea." Hitomi said with a smile at the woman in front of her.  
  
*************** End Flashback ***************  
  
"'She was really nice and the perfect mother. But I didn't have her for very long after that." he murmured as he starred at the road, another memory popping up.  
  
*************** Flashback ***************  
  
Ranma and his mother Hitomi had been living at the Royal Palaces of Jupiter for about two months when the attack happened. Ranma and Lita were in the garden in the Senshi uniforms, practicing their fighting moves.  
  
"Lita! I want you to look at this move I just made up!" Ranma called to his training partner as she readied herself to begin a kata.  
  
"Ok, go ahead, Ranma. I'm always interested in you new moves." She said happily as she sat down under a tree to watch as her protector began his move.  
  
0Seeing that she was ready, he braced his legs and cupped his hands at his side. Concentrating as hard as he could, he poured his energy into the bowl his hands had formed. As a flickering blue light sparked to life, Ranma glanced up to see the wonder on her face grow as the energy became a ball of brilliant energy that seethed in an attempt to escape from the bonds that Ranma had put on the energy.  
  
"Moko Takabisha!" he shouted as he thrust his hands forward. The ball shot forward and smashed into a nearby tree trunk, where it promptly exploded, destroying the trunk, sending the tree toppling to the ground.  
  
"Wow!" Lita exclaimed as she ran over to her protector. "That was awesome! Can you teach me how to do that?"  
  
"I don't know. We can at least try." He said with a faint blush as Lita jumped up and down in excitement, a couple of bits jiggling in the skin tight uniform of a sailor scout. His thoughts about the interesting bits were interrupted as an annoying laugh echoed around them.  
  
Spinning in opposite directions to cover more ground, they searched for the person laughing, but they remain elusive, hidden in the trees. Suddenly, they heard a scream of rage coming from the palace.  
  
"Mother." Jupiter K. whispered before taking off at a dead run as another scream ripped through the air. "Mom!" Jupiter dashed after him, both forgetting about the mocking laugher that was still some where behind them.  
  
They ran through the halls, following the screams that were growing louder with each passing second. Finally they burst into Hitomi's room only to stop short. A yoma, which looked like a giant cat with black fur and wickedly sharp claws, was crouched over Hitomi, who was pinned to the floor, one giant paw on her chest with the fully extended claws deep into her flesh. Before they could take a step, though, the yoma clenched its claws into Hitomi and then ripped them out, taking her heart with it. Each claw was a good four or five inches in length, so they had no problem reaching that most precious organ. Then before they're horrified eyes, it brought it to its mouth and took a huge bite out of the still slowly pumping heart.  
  
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ranma screamed in rage and pain as the creature finished its meal. Tears were flowing down his cheeks and power crackled around his body as his Jupiter K. gifts expanded with his rage. "No, no, no, nonononononononononononononoNONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!!!" His chant of 'no' started out slowly and softly but it quickly gained both speed and volume, until he was screaming it as his hands dug into his hair and grabbed his skull in their tight grips.  
  
Jupiter watched her knight with horror as the lightening that was flickering around him expanded until he was covered in a blanket of lightening that just waited to be released. Realizing that when it did get released it would got everywhere, she turned, grabbing the guard members who were in the doorway, and dashed down the hallway. And not a moment to soon, either. Suddenly that was a giant clap of thunder and a brilliant flash of white behind them as the energy released, instantly vaporizing the entire room and part of the hallway where they had just been.  
  
After taking a moment to look at the ruble that had once been marble walls, Jupiter cautiously walked back towards where the door had once been. It would have been quicker to just go through the ruble to reach Jupiter K., who was now kneeling in the center of the blast zone, but defiantly not safer. So she slowly picked her was over to her protector and felt her heart break as she looked at what he held in his arms. His mother's body laid curled in his arms as he cradled her close, despite the blood and the open wound on her chest.  
  
Going to her knees beside him, she gently took the cooling body and placed it on the floor, folding the hands across the wound to conceal it and closing the eyes that were sightlessly starring at the blackened and crumbling ceiling. Once that was completed, she turned to her partner only to see that had had detransformed and was curled on his side, sobs racking his body as he cried out his sorrow onto the cold and unfeeling ground. She put a hand on his shoulder and quickly found herself wrapping her arms around him as he cried onto her shoulder as he clutched her.  
  
It was then that Sailor Jupiter realized that she was desperately in love with her Protector.  
  
*************** End Flashback ***************  
  
Ranma swiped at his eyes as he stepped onto the train platform. The train would take him within two miles of the Tendo Dojo and he could quickly run the last little bit. It was perfect timing as it turned out, because as soon as he had gotten his ticket, the speakers blared to life.  
  
"Train 610 to Nerima is now arriving at track 7. Please watch your hands and legs and wait until it comes to a full stop before approaching. Thank you and have a nice day."  
  
Getting onto the train proved to be a slight problem. The car was packed and he had to shove his way through to even step foot on it. Finally after pushing and shoving, he made it too a small corner seat that was quickly vacated as soon as the man caught site of the busty red head. A woman had accidentally dropped a bottle of water on him just before he had reached the corner. It proved to be advantages though as the perverted salesman, who wanted a peek down the top of Ranma's shirt, let her sit down.  
  
Sighing, Ranma pulled her pack into her lap and put her head down on top of it, blocking the mans view even as she was lost once again in her memories of her past life. It didn't stay that way for long though as the crowd kept jostling her. She didn't get to do too much thinking on the trip because if she wasn't fending off the perverts who used the train as a way to feel her up, she was being bumped into as people got on and off the train.  
  
Finally, she heard the call for Nerima and stood up. Shoving her way forward, she squeezed out of the crush and out onto the platform in a town she had never thought to see again. Looking around, she sighed as a pang of loneliness hit her. Many people that had disembarked with her were having joyous greetings with the people waiting for them, while others hurried on their way to jobs or their homes. There weren't to many teenagers there as it was only noon and they were all in school.  
  
With another sigh, she headed off the platform and towards where she knew that she could some hot water. A restaurant run by her old friend Ukyo.  
"Hello, and welcome to the Ucchan. Can I help. Ranma!" Ukyo exclaimed as she looked up from her grill. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I just stopped by to get some hot water. I'm on my way to talk to Mom and the Tendos and I figured it would be easier to do so without being a girl." she said as she stepped up to the counter and placed her pack on the ground.  
  
"Sure, sugar, wait a sec while I grab so water. I just made some for tea." Ukyo said as she turned away. Within moments, Ranma had a cup of gently steaming water in her hand.  
  
"Thanks." Two seconds later, she was a he and was handing back the cup to the owner of the restaurant.  
  
"So you're going to talk to the Tendos and your mom? Why?" she asked as she placed the cup on the counter and looked her ex-fiancée over, noting that he wasn't wearing his braces on his legs. "And why aren't you wearing your bracers?"  
  
"I just found out in a magazine that they wanted to try and make things right between us and that they want me to marry Kasumi or Nabiki. I won't put up with it so I have to confront them. And the reason I'm not wearing them is because I don't need to anymore. Sailor Moon fixed them when I got injured in an attack." He said and dug into his food.  
  
She stood there for a moment staring at him before she abruptly shook her head in wonderment. 'Only you, Ranchan. Only you.' She thought and placed some tea next to his elbow.  
  
"Thanks Ukyo." He said and drained his cup. While his speed hadn't been effect at all since he had left, his manners had improved. Laying enough money on the counter, he stood up and shouldered his heavy pack. "I'll see you later." He said and headed for the door.  
  
"You're always welcome here, Ranma. Remember that!" she called after him, which gained everyone in the restaurant and a group of boys that were coming in. Everyone turned and froze at the sight of the changed but still recognizable martial artist. There was a moment of pure silence then the boys at the door all shouted in one voice, "Saotome! You're back!"  
  
"No I'm not." Ranma said calmly and was ignored like usual when he was in Nerima.  
  
"Finally you can put a stop to Kuno, when he graduated and went to a privet collage we thought it would get better but the next year he transferred into the public collage to be near Akane and he is driving her and everyone else crazy."  
  
"The fights started again!"  
  
"I keep getting beat up! I need you to either train me or beat them up for me."  
  
"When are you going to marry one of the girls so that the rest of us can get one!"  
  
This last bit was what broke the horses back, so to speak, for Ranma. He had been getting angrier and angrier as the four boys, who he couldn't even remember their names anymore as they were never very good friends, kept talking and making demands of him.  
  
"Shut up." He said coldly. Normally they would have never obeyed it but Ranma was now surrounded by his bright green ki, much different than his previous blue color. And this time there were little lightening bolts that flickered around him. "Ranma Saotome is dead." He said calmly and headed for the door, which the boys were standing in front of.  
  
Seeing the flickering battle aura coming their way, the boys dived away and out of the doorway, leaving it clear for Ranma to leave by. In the doorway he turned back to the people in the restaurant that were staring at him in shock.  
  
"I am not back. I have no fiancées, so if you want to ask one out, ask one out. If Kuno is driving you crazy, do something about it. Stop participating in the attacks so that she'll only have to deal with Kuno, and if you want to be trained in the martial arts, and it must be by me for what ever reason you have in your minds, I'll be teaching a beginners class in Jubaan starting in about a week." That being said, he turned and walked out the door, the aura and electricity disappearing before he had even crossed the threshold.  
  
Once he was gone, the patrons of Ucchan's looked blankly at each other for a moment before there was a mass rush to either pay their bills and leave before a powerful martial artist showed up looking for Ranma, or to get to a phone to see if they could find the dojo where Ranma was teaching to sign up for classes.  
  
Ukyo just shook her head and rang up another bill.  
"I don't believe this. I'm not even here for thirty minutes and already trouble is following me around!" Ranma complained to himself as he noticed a certain crazy gymnast following him from rooftop to rooftop. Sighing, he stopped onto of Dr. Tofu's clinic and turned fully to face Kodachi.  
  
"Beloved! You are worthy of my perfect love once again!" she sang as she landed on the roof and launched herself at him.  
  
'No matter what I say, she's not going to listen to me. There has to be some way to get through to her!' he thought as he dodged her. 'Wait, I got it!'  
  
"My, fairest rose, in all my life there has been none that allowed this humble person to grace them with my love. I must admit that at first I found myself daunted by the mere though of being allowed in your presence, but one I was no longer allowed, my heart broke and I realized how foolish I had been." He said with a deep bow to the stunned woman. His face still adverted by the bow, he allowed himself to smile quickly before he wiped his face of it and plastered a heartbroken expression in its place.  
  
"But, I am no longer what I once was. Though I may now tread this earth once again, I must forbid myself your royal presence as I am but a shadow of my former might. But I humbly beg your indulgence in this matter my lady. I would love to court you, but first I must regain my prowess and strength once again. Can you find it in your heart to allow me the time that I need to make myself worthy of you?"  
  
Kodachi started at him for a moment a shell shocked expression on his face before a beautiful smile crossed her face. A smile that was barely tainted with her madness and Ranma felt a brief pang of remorse for building her hopes up.  
  
"My lord, I shall grant you your wish and will wait with baited breath for the day that you return for me." She said as she fluttered her long eyelashes at him.  
  
"Nay, my lady. While I am humbled that you would wait for this insignificant person, I must protest. Once such as you must be pursued after by all that will cherish you. I beg of you to go out and meet others that are interested in you. That will allow you to find he who is most worthy. One who will cherish and love you till your dieing day if I find that I am not worthy or it takes me much to long." Ranma protested and she blushed in pleasure at the seeming complement.  
  
"Oh, my love, I will do as you say! How cruel it would be to deny all the men in the world my beauty, charm, and grace! HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!!!" she laughed madly then bestowed on him a hungry look. "You will bring yourself to my home when you have finished making yourself worthy of me. Until then, I will leave you with a token of my affection." So saying, she produces a bouquet of her trademarked black roses and handed then to him. "Until later, darling!"  
  
Ranma held his breath as she bounded away from him across the rooftops, then threw the roses away from him. They landed at the edge of the roof and just lay there, a fine powder disturbed by the landing floated up and settled on the rooftop area surrounding the bouquet.  
  
Taking a deep breath of clean air, Ranma sighed and turned away from the destructive flowers and once again began the trip back to the Tendo Dojo.  
Kasumi was outside hanging clean laundrey on the line when a familare shadow appeared on the ground in front of her. Unable to believe her eyes, she slowly looked up and gasped as she caught sight of the pigtailed martial artist that she had visited in the hospital.  
  
"Ranma." she whispered before she gave an unKasumi like squeal of joy and launched herself at him. "Ranma! You're back!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him like she was never going to let go.  
  
"Kasumi, it's good to see you again, too!" Ranma said with a laugh as he twirled her around a few times before placing her back on her feet.  
  
"Ranma!" four more voices called from the porch of the house. Releasing Kasumi, he turned to see the other two Tendo sisters, their father and his mother standing together on the porch. As he watched, Akane ran down from the porch and across the yard towards him, her arms open as if to grab him in a hug.  
  
Quickly sidestepping, he dodged around the incoming girl and watched her run right into the wall surrounding the home before she could stop. Turning away from the dazed girl laying on the ground, he saw that the other three were now standing only a few feet away from him.  
  
"Waaahhhhhh! Now at last the schools will be joined!!!" Soun wailed as he made to grab him in a hug. Once again, Ranma sidestepped, but this time, he hit the sleepers point on Soun's neck. As he dropped to the ground asleep, Ranma turned back to the last two remaining women in front of him.  
  
"Son, I." Nodoka started to say, but Ranma cut her off.  
  
"I am not your son, your son is dead." He said calmly and watched as her face closed until it was just a polite mask. Her hands clutched her wrapped katana as she said, "Please come inside, we have much to discuss."  
  
"Not as much as you seem to think." Ranma said just as calmly. Turning, he saw that Kasumi had Akane on her feet and was directing her to the house, so he bent down and scooped up Soun and carted him back towards the house.  
  
As soon as the head of the Tendos had been layed on the couch, a wet rag on his forehead, and Akane had an ice pack sitting on her head while she sat at the table, Kasumi disappeared into the kitchen to make some tea for everyone. Until she got back, everyone stayed silent at the table, Ranma looking down at the table top and the woman staring at him.  
  
Finally, when she came back and passed out the hot drinks, Ranma cleared his throat and looked up at the eyes that were watching him. "I can here today because I saw the article that Nabiki put in the magazine." He said calmly and took a long sip of his tea. "This is very good, Kasumi. It's one of the things I've missed since I got out of the hospital. I was lucky that you would bring me some every once in a while."  
  
"Why, thank you Ranma, I enjoyed visiting you there. I miss visiting with you." She said with a sunny smile.  
  
"You can come and visit me at my aunt's house it you would like until I can get an apartment of my own." Ranma said with an answering smile.  
  
"Son.Ranma. That is one of the things that we wanted to talk to you about. You can move back here and then you wouldn't have to go visiting." Nodoka said.  
  
"Mrs. Saotome, it is impossible for me to move back into this home."  
  
Nodoka seemed slightly started to hear her formal name out of her son, but pushed it aside to continue. "We still want to join the schools. Obviously you wouldn't want to marry Akane after your accident so you will marry either Kasumi or Nabiki." She said firmly as she loosened the wrappings on her katana.  
  
"I don't think you understand." He said coolly. "To join the schools you would need your son to marry Kasumi or Nabiki, but you don't have a son, haven't for a year now. Ranma Saotome died in the hospital a year ago. My name is Ranma Sankono." It was a spur of the moment decision to take the last name he had once when he had lived on Jupiter. It was the only other name in all of his memory that he had by right of birth.  
  
The women looked at him blankly for a moment as he went back to sipping his tea. Finally Akane burst out. "Ranma no baka! Can't you see that we want you back!!"  
  
Calmly he set his cup on the table, and then turned cool eyes on her. "You want me back, Akane? Why? You have never loved me, or wanted me here in the first place, remember? So why do you want me back? Mr. Tendo wants me back so that he can have an easy retirement, not that he does any work anyway. Nabiki wants me back to probably make more money off of me and my curse. Mrs. Saotome probably wants me back for a couple of different possible reasons. She could be sorry about what she had done and wanted her little puppet back, she could want me back to uphold her honor, she could want me back so that she isn't alone as she gets older. Anything is possible. Kasumi is the only one that I can think of that could want me back for just me." He said with a small smile at the oldest Tendo daughter. But the smile disappeared as he turned his cold gaze back to the youngest.  
  
"You probably only want me back to pamper to your self. You probably feel guilty about what you did to me. You almost ruined my life for something I was not responsible for just because of your violent temper and your unreasonable jealousy." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. She was sitting there with her mouth hanging open in shock.  
  
"You, Akane, only want me back so that you feel special again. I paid attention to you without wanting to jump you. I defended you and protected you against things that you couldn't fight against. I even put up with your abuse without turning and running away. But I was never anything to you. I was an object that you could beat up on and ridicule to your hearts content. It wasn't until after I was out of the picture that you realized that without me around, you didn't get as much attention from all the boys. I have heard things in the time since I was gone. Kuno still challenges you at the collage you go to, but there is no hoard of boys trying to beat you to win you. There are no challengers for the dojo that once they saw you, had to have you. There are no students period without me. No one coming up that wants to learn from you after the first four dojo destroyers came, challenged you, beat you and then took pity on you and let you keep the sign."  
  
During the course of his speech, Akane went from being shocked and pale faced to being furiouse and red faced. She was angy that her whole frame was vibrating with it. Her head was down as she went through these emotions, but everyone who knew her got out of the way as fast as they could. It was a rage like this that had led her to breaking Nabiki's arms when she was 12 and her sister was 13 and better in the art than she was. The damage to the nerves in Nabiki's shoulders forbade her to ever practice the art again.  
  
With a wordless scream of pure rage, she attacked Ranma, only to find herself on the ground writhing in pain a moment later, her right arm broken in three places.  
  
"Akane!!" Kasumi and Nodoka exclaimed as they rushed towards the girl. "Ranma, how could you do that to a girl?! A girl that loves you nonetheless!" Nodoka said angrily.  
  
"Akane doesn't love me, Mrs. Saotome." He said quietly, a strange tone in his voice as he stared blankly out the open sliding do that lead to the backyard. "Only one person has ever truly loved me. People in love don't regularly try and main their love interest. They also don't attack them for trying to be nice or for accidentally saying something wrong." He now had everyone's attention, including Akane, who was clutching her arm, and Soun, who had just woken up.  
  
"I found my soul mate in my last life. She was beautiful. A fighter on par with the best when we grew up. I was her protector, her knight, and she was my princess. We fought together and died together. It wasn't until the last battle that I really told her my feelings, but of course by then it was much too late, but it was unspoken between up for a long time before that we loved each other."  
  
*************** Flashback ***************  
  
The battle was just beginning and already half of the scouts and their knight were dead. Sailor Jupiter was fighting back to back with Jupiter K in an isolated area, far away from the others. Seven monsters surrounded them and Jupiter K. knew that it was the end.  
  
'These monsters are just shrugging off my attacks!!' he thought furiously as he fired off another moko Takabisha. As the attack smashed into the rock yoma, a huge clawed hand came out of no where and grabbed him by the throat. He was jerked up off the ground and suddenly he was lying on the ground, his throat torn open.  
  
"NO!" Jupiter yelled as she turned at the loud gurgle he gave as he tried to breath through the blood. Then the yomas descended on them. In her moment of distraction, two yomas, a cat and a dog, each grabbed her by an arm and yanked. For a moment it was like tug of war before suddenly her right arm got ripped completely off.  
  
She screamed as the dog yoma, who was still holding on to her attached arm dragged her off her feet and then tossed her into the middle of three other yomas, all equipped with long claws and sharp teeth.  
  
Ranma watched, tears running down his face as she was ripped apart. 'My love.' he cried as the light dimmed in her beautiful emerald eyes. When it went out, he left out a bubbling screaming of pain as he squeezed his eyes shout.  
  
The yomas stopped for a moment at his scream, but then continued to tear her apart. When there wasn't that much left, they left the dead sailor scout and joined in the rest as they slowly ate the knight alive.  
  
'I will find you again!' he thought deservedly as he died of blood loss and shock.  
  
*************** End Flashback ***************  
  
Ranma sighed and then smiled slightly.  
  
"But now she's back. I've found her again, and I'm going to stay with her, forever this time."  
  
"Whaaaaaaaa! Now the schools will never be joined because Ranma's found his soul mate! Whaaaaaaa!" Soun burst out looking both happy that Ranma had found his soul mate and sad because he wouldn't be marrying one of his girls.  
  
"I think it's about time for me to get back." Ranma said as he stood up.  
  
"Wait, Ranma. I have a question for you." Kasumi said as she stood up also and reached for his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why aren't you wearing your bracers?"  
  
Upon hearing her question, everything went still in the room as everyone turned to stare at him, or more specifically his legs.  
  
"Oh, Sailor Moon healed my legs when I was caught in a monster attack." He said calmly and Nodoka gasped.  
  
"You were caught in a monster attack? But that usually only happens in Juuban!"  
  
"Yeah, so? That's were I'm living."  
  
"You live there? Where?" she said in a stunned voice.  
  
Slowly, he told her the address, unsure of what was going through her mind.  
  
"That is Near the Cherry Hill Temple, correct?"  
  
A slow nod.  
  
"Well, that is about five minutes from my house. I live there." She said calmly and took a sip of her tea. "This is very good, Kasumi. You must give me the address of where you buy your blend!"  
  
Ranma had frozen when his mother dropped her little bombshell, and now toppled over to land on his face in a graceful faceplant. Recovering, he said slowly, "You live there?"  
  
"Yes, Ranma, I do. If you're heading back, you can ride with me. The car is coming to pick me up in an hour."  
  
"The car?"  
  
"Yes. I told my driver to pick me up around four."  
  
'Why me?' he thought before nodding. "Ok. I'm in no rush at the moment."  
INCOMPLETE  
  
Ok, as you can see, this is STILL NOT DONE! My asshole of a sister, who just happens to be 8 months pregnant, decided to erase all my work in a folder. Luckily it was just this story. All the previous chapters were on the internet so they weren't hard to replace, but this once was nearly done! I had to start over again from where I left off the last time I posted this! I had been almost done with Pluto's first memory when it happened and I can't remember exactly what I wrote in the first place! So here is a much rushed finished part of this chapter. Jupiter is completely finished now, I just need to do Pluto now. Add the fact I'm not feeling good and I still have to go to work tomorrow, I'm not sure when I'll get the rest up. But it will be up. SOON. Hopefully.  
  
Ja ne,  
  
A very pissed off Shinigami-chan 


End file.
